


Soul in the Altus

by BrimFireWarning



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, M/M, Modern Girl in Thedas, Small Assassins Creed crossover, Soul traveling, Time Travel, minor smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:53:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 41,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9916346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrimFireWarning/pseuds/BrimFireWarning
Summary: What do you do when you know your dying? Apparently Loral sold herself to a medical research company that can send her back through her past lives. Some are on Earth, and others are somewhere else.





	1. Dying is the Hard Part-Right?

Dying is not like how some people think. Not when it’s a slow,  malignant tumor eating away at your mind. Literally.  It wasn’t a noticeable difference at first; she’d never had the best of memories so when it began to get worse it took months before anyone voiced any concern.  Random nose bleeds were nothing to think twice about either; she lived in the desert. But then they started happening every time she tried to work out, or got upset.  High blood pressure was the trigger. Mom finally convinced her to get checked, so she did.  

Walk into the doctors, not a worry on her mind.  Never occurred to her it was something serious, just a routine check up.  She figured they’d look her over, give her some sage advice on what to do if it happened again, yada yada.  Within 20 minutes they sent her to the E.R., called in a specialist named Dr. Amladaris, and the party began.  She was kidding of course, 4 hours in a hospital being poked and prodded is the longest she’d ever been in one since she was ten.  

Ever hear that song that sings what will you do when you get the news? She couldn’t remember who it’s by, that nasty little memory issue of hers.  She sat there for a good while just staring at the wall, not really understanding what the good Dr. was saying to her. Mom came and picked her up, took her home…and still she sat.  So to answer the question of what would she do, she went back to work.   

 So lame right? 

 But she had no friends, just nerd buddies she played her online games with and no family unless you count mom, who more or less ‘adopted’ her many years back when she moved in next door.  She was a 33 year old loveless, familyless, self proclaimed hermit who just wanted to have fun. But she was also clueless so, yeah, fun meant a good book or a raid in FFIV.  No mountain climbing or crazy, totally breathtakingly fun things like that- yeah, she was so bumming it.  Not to mention that the radiation treatments and the meds they gave her literally left her breathless-  not kidding.  She would take three breaks climbing one flight of stairs- her front porch…it's like, 5 steps?  And then she would take naps on them. By them. In her chair, at the kitchen table. Actually started carrying a small pillow around, the some of that stuff is not comfortable. 

Finally the day came She couldn’t climb those steps at all anymore, and the hospital became her new home.  Mom sent flowers, they’ve wilted since then.  So, for her, dying was lonely, but she was ok with it.  She finally get to join her family; her mom, brother, sister.  She knew she’d faught with all she had, it was simply her time now.  She felt it coming and it was so peaceful.  People rushed in and out of her room as the machines blared, but strangely it wasn’t her family who she saw at the end.  It was a handsome bald man with blue eyes and long ears; with so much love in his eyes and joy in his smile, like he’d been waiting a long time for her. He stood there, leaning against a long walking stick for a while before leaning forward and holding out his hand.  “Atisha, ma vhenan. El shiral mala ha'lam. ”  

 **Peace, my heart.  Our journey begins.**  

              

 


	2. I did what?

Oh man, why does her head hurt so much? She doesn’t drink as a general rule, so this... full body hangover to the extreme, made no sense. What didn’t hurt? Nothing. She'd swear even her toes ached. Especially her chest, oh cracker-jacks, her chest. Groaning she lifted her hand but it seemed to be caught in some kind of string.  String? 

Gasping Loral opened her eyes, the sharp glare of white walls forcing them back shut. Misery flooded her system as she remembered that she was in the hospital, had been for months, for crying out loud how could she have forgotten something like that? Trying again she squinted, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust and open her eyes more. White walls, check. Large windows, check. TV, check. Lady sitting on end of bed staring at you? Check. Wait, what? 

"W-who," she tried to breath out past the pain in her chest.  

"Hello Loral, my name is Doctor Rachel Carver. I saw you were waking up so I waited, we have much to talk about ok? I know your hurting so I'll try to keep the questions simple but I need to do a brief cognitive test before we continue." The woman glanced down at her clipboard before putting it down and standing. "Your name is Loralai Rayne Black correct?"  

"Y..es" 

"How old are you?" Doctor Carver took out a light and shone it in Loral's eyes as she spoke before lifting her limbs one by one and checking the mobility.  

"35." 

"Married?" 

"No." 

"Family?" 

"No." 

"How many fingers am I holding up?" 

"Three." 

"Ok, your doing good just a few more. Count forwards, then backwards, to ten." 

"1...2...3...4...5.....6...7." Deep breath. "8...9.....10." Another deep breath. "10...9...8...7-7....6...5-5-5." 

"That's good Loral, you can stop. I'm confident that mentally your all here.  We can't do the mobile tests yet so we'll stop here for today." 

Loral moved her hand to her chest, tapping it, frown on her face. 

"I'm sorry, it's going to hurt for awhile. You crashed, your heart stopped. They lost you long enough that they tried to use a defibrillator to bring you back. No permanent damage thankfully, you should recover well. Your condition is stable as well but you have been moved to a specialized unit to better care for you. When you are better we will talk more on your options here, ok?" 

A timely yawn forced Loral to expand her chest, a whimper escaping her lips. She nodded, missing  the flash of worry on the woman's face as she slipped off to sleep. 

 

************ 

 

 

Rachel quietly closed the door as she left, a weary sigh leaving her.  

"Is there a problem Doctor?" Turning to face the voice she put on a mask of indifference, willing the man to find something else to do.  

"No, Director Amladaris, there is no problem sir." Except you want me to lie to this woman which went against everything Rachel stood for.  The amount of guilt she already felt had caused many sleepless nights, and something told her it wasn’t going to get any better anytime soon.  

"Good. I want her in the Altus by the end of the week doctor, make sure she's ready." 

"S-s-sir? But-" Too fast, too soon. The woman was three days out from cardiac arrest coupled with withdrawal from those drugs... "She could not possibly-." 

"If you want my funding for your little pet projects you will do what I tell you to, is that understood?" Holy shit the man's one scary son of a gun when he looks like that.  

"Y-yes sir, as soon as possible sir." 

"Good." He sneered. "You came highly recommended Doctor Carver, I would hate to have to... terminate... our relationship."  

She watched him walk away, a cold shiver running down her spine at his very blatant threat. What had she gotten herself into? 

 

 

*************** 

 

"Your awake, good." Doctor Carver entered the room with a tray of food, putting it on the bed cart before helping Loral sit up and sliding the food tray over her lap.  

"Good morning Doctor." It's been a few days but Loral already feels so much better, the soreness strangely almost non-existent now. The tiredness was not so prominent now either.  

"Now that your feeling better I was hoping to talk to you about your treatment options. Would you like to start now or shall I come back when your done eating?" 

Loral didn’t care, and stated as much. There was nothing the doctor could say that would turn her off her food, these things were actual gourmet meals. What kind of hospital serves gourmet food? So good, especially the brownies. Then again, she'd always had a weakness for chocolate. 

"No problem," the doctor smiled kindly. "I'll be right back with some paperwork." 

Shortly after there was a thump on the door, then a flustered Doctor Carver came in followed by Doctor Amladaris, who immediately picked up her chart and studied it. 

"Hello Doctor," she bowed her head in acknowledgement.  

"Miss Black, your looking good today. Be honest, how are you feeling?"  Something about his smooth English voice seemed off today, making Loral nervous.  

"Um, good? I feel better than I have in a long time actually." 

"That is wonderful to hear.  I need to be frank with you my dear, so please bear with me a moment." He pulled up a stool and sat down. "Doctor Carver told you that you flatlined five days ago, correct?" 

Loral nodded.  

"Fortunately for you your living will dictated that if you died your body was to be donated to science. After waiting the appropriate amount of time I was allowed to inject an experimental serum into you that we are currently calling R.I.V.213. Not it's final name but for now, that's it.  You are the first person to have been so successfully revived by it." 

"So your saying, I died?" Loral wasn’t surprised, they said she flatlined. It was more curiosity, the knowledge that it had happened and she was still alive.   Wait... 

"I was dead dead, like, not coming back dead? And my living will..." The blood drained from her face, already dreading what he would say next. 

"Yes, Miss Black. You were donated to science. As of now, because of the Altus project, you are alive, and will stay that way as long as you keep getting the serum on a regular basis to keep your cancer at bay. We are hoping that we can eventually wean you off and you will be able to resume life as normal, but as this is a fairly new drug, we don’t actually know that yet. " He seemed sincere, even a little sad for her.  

It's ok, she kept telling herself. Your alive, that's what counts right? And he said it might not be forever. 

"Will I have to stay here, always?" 

"Miss Black, you are not a prisoner here, but that being said you must stay if you wish to stay alive. As of right now the program has assumed all costs for your day to day living, and as such we have had a room set up for you in the hopes that you will be comfortable. Unfortunately because of the highly sensitive nature of what goes on in this building you will be limited to the top three floors of the building and you will not be allowed outside communication." He paused a moment, seeming to be considering his next words.  

"There's more isn't there?" At this point Loral didn’t know how to react. It basically boiled down to her leaving, and dying. Or her staying- as a prisoner of sorts. She had no doubt there would be a lot of rules. To be honest the idea didn’t completely put her off. She had knowingly donated herself in the hopes of helping to save lives, and if that meant having to stay here, then she would just have to deal with it. Not like she had anywhere better to be anyways.  

"Yes Miss Black, but we can talk about that in a bit. First, Doctor Carver can you grab the wheelchair? Thank you." Doctor Carver wheeled it over and both doctor's made to help her into it. "First I think we should show you around, it should help ease your mind." Hitting the wheelchair button to open the door Doctor Amladaris walked her down the hall to an elevator. Talk about high-tech, the key pad involved a pin and his thumbprint to open the doors. Once inside he hit the button for the 20th floor and they started a smooth ride up. The area they entered was, for lack of a better word, a rech room.  One half had a large multi-sport area where a few people where playing volleyball. Not too far from that was an exercise area full of machines, and a weight area. Through some double doors was what looked like a restaurant, you could actually order from a huge variety of food. There was a surprising number of people there, maybe twenty or so, most greeted her politely.  

They skipped the next floor, the doctor saying it was housing and he'd show it to her next, so they went to the roof. The size of this building must be massive! A huge outdoor common area slash garden covered most of it but there was also a pool and hot tub, along with another basketball court. There was a metal gate spanning the whole parameter for peoples safety.  

Finally they went down to the middle floor, or the 21st floor: housing. Coming up to door 123 it opened to reveal a country style suite, complete with a large tv, video games galore, and a huge variety of books. Along with what looked like everything she already owned from her old apartment, minus the furniture. 

"Mrs. Croft helped us understand what you like so we could make you more comfortable here. If there's anything you wish to change just let someone in the Advocate office below us know, we try to keep the patients here as happy as possible. You can also request all your bathroom supplies there, as well as groceries if you desire to cook." Doctor Amladaris went on to point out where everything was.  

"Wow... I think I'm going to like it here." 

"So you've made up your mind?" She nodded. "I'll admit that's a relief. I just have a few more things to discuss with you and some paperwork, then Doctor Carver will be taking over." They pulled her over to the couch and helped her onto it.  Ooohhoo yeah, she thought as she sank into the plush cushion. She could really get used to this. Doctor Carver handed her some papers while Doctor Amladaris stood in front of the TV. 

"That top paper is a list of rules while you’re here, nothing dramatic, most is common sense. Be courteous, no fighting or destruction of property. Clean up after yourself, basic stuff. You can look over that later. For now, if you could please flip to the third page I need to explain that to you, after I'm done you can ask your questions, ok?" Ah, finally, we're getting to the catch of this whole arrangement.  

"In addition to the experimental medicine and medical procedures we perform here, we also have a program known as the Altus Project, which I briefly mentioned earlier. This is the program you were enrolled into upon arrival. Should you accept the terms of agreement not only will all your medical expenses be waived but you will have to be put into the Altus roughly three times a week." 

"The Altus is a very high-tech machine that reads your dna memory to connect with your past lives, so that we may see what happened. It's had a huge affect for our historians as it allows us to more accurately portray the past. What it looked like, how people looked, interacted. The local atmosphere. What certain objects were used for, or where they went. Amazingly enough it has also helped the medical fields as well. The vast amounts of knowledge we have acquired from this machine are world changing. It's how we developed the serum that revived you." 

"The Altus is much like a MRI machine, you lay down and the machine covers most of your body. A special head piece allows the machine to track your lives. We will see, hear, and live whatever the events of that life are, through that persons eyes, but it will not hurt you. Nor will you be physically harmed. I've been told the worse part is back aches from laying in the chair so long, but otherwise it's like being asleep and dreaming." 

"Most sessions last roughly 8 hours in which you can live about eight months of that persons life. Since we don't know any of your past lives-or what planet they were on." She raised both eyebrows in shock at that. "We will have to toss you in at random a few time, the machine will lead you to the nearest life to that date. Once we know a date we can go back to that one if we choose to. Most people have lived up to ten lives, some as many as twenty, so it's a bit of a guess and check at first." He glanced at Doctor Carver. "On that note I believe I will let you be. Any questions I believe Doctor Carver here can answer them just as well as I can. If you still want to do this then sign those papers and give them to her. I will set up your first session once I have those. Good day Miss Black, please choose wisely. This really is ground breaking work we do here, and we would love to include you." 

 


	3. First Run

"Let me tighten this strap and then we'll begin the process, ok? It's not too tight is it?" Loral shook her head. She understood the need for the straps, people tend to move when the images got intense, but it still made her feel a little trapped. Deep breaths Loral, you can do this. Nevalia had said it was actually pretty cool, remember? She gave herself a pep talk, reminding herself of the conversation she'd had with the colored woman she'd met the day before. They were both about the same age and had clicked right away, sharing a similar love of games and books. Nevalia said the machine was weird at first, a bit scary, but once you got past that stage and _lived_ in another life... it was pretty radical, to quote her.  

"We're going to run a few tests first to make sure your compatible, this will take a few minutes." The man who'd strapped her in said over the headset as his hands danced over the machines console. The table moved, sliding her into the Altus. Breath Loral, she reminded herself. Thankfully the time wasn’t spent in agonizing silence, a soft musical tune played until his voice came up again. "Ok, looks like everything's good. Now we're going to pick a random number, see where the magic takes us." 

She couldn’t help her grin. "3." 

"3000 it is. Close your eyes and don’t fight the images coming towards you, most importantly of all, breath." 

The machine revved to life, Loral squeezing her eyes shut despite her dark glasses as the bright lights twisted around her still form, a deep whirring sound starting up that she'd almost swear she could feel even in her bones. Purposely blanking her mind her wait was short lived as the world around her faded away. 

 

************* 

 

"Lady Viola Lupus, may I present Lord Aeneas Merula." Loral watched as her body gave a small bow, bending her knees as her head tilted a little to the side. A long white arm stretched out before her, the older man before her taking it and kissing her hand. He had a well weathered face, probably in his forty's, with short cropped dirty blond hair and oddly detached green eyes.  The man was being polite, showing no real interest in who she was. 

"My Lord Aeneas, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." Viola's voice was soft, but the briefly clenched fist at her side and wildly racing heart spoke otherwise. Someone's not happy with this meeting, Loral thought to herself.  

"To you as well young Lady Viola. Come, let us walk  the gardens a bit." Aeneas gently laid her small hand on the inside of his arm, tucking it into himself as they walked. Picking up the front of her skirt with her other hand they walked the stone path that led to the gardens.  "Now that you are here Lady Viola how are you settling in? No more incidents with the servants I trust?" 

Loral felt pretty sure that Viola was blushing right now. What had happened with the servants? "No, my Lord. Your mother has been kind enough to help instruct me in your local customs, I'm confident that I will not embarrass you again with my ignorance." The gardens were beautiful, the lush green landscape well manicured, probably by the group of men digging in the distance, a live tree on the ground near them. Her eyes snagged on one young man, the sweat soaking his back leaving nothing to the imagination.  Oh girly, move your eyes, this is the worst man trap in the book. And a dangerous one if this old man is who I think he is to you. Hey, Loral wasn’t ashamed, she read a lot of romance novels. And this girl here, Viola, was a classic gunna get fucked. Probably not the good kind either. 

"Pray that you don’t," the old man said, drawing her eyes away from the man candy. "I would hate for another...incident...to put our arrangement in jeopardy." Yeah, not the good kind.  

They continued walking the garden for a short time before Aeneas excused himself, stating he would see Viola in the morning for the ceremony. Wow, just met the man and they was gettin married! Hoo diggity. Loral was so happy she didn’t live in ancient days, just the thought of arranged marriages made her stomach turn. Viola's eyes wandered again, eyeing the man who'd now noticed her very clear interest. Great, she was a slut in a past life. 

Viola slowly made her way through the home, past the verandah and to her bedroom. The area was very open, random statues and items standing on pedestals along the wall with large rich frescos on each wall. Beautiful drapes covered the open windows that lead to small private porches on two sides while the other two had doors in the middle. One door was the one she had entered, she had no idea what lay through the other one. A huge bed with drapes on all corners sat in the middle of the room, Loral's only thought being that the ridiculous position must mean pillows fell off the end often. Sleeping on that monster must suck. 

Just then the ground shook, the quake causing several statues to fall and shatter, the bed in the middle shifted and a good half of the drawers on her massive dresser opened to some degree. As it stopped a young lady flew into the room. "My Lady," the brunette cried. "Are you ok?"  

"I'm fine Samara, it’s the room that's not ok." Viola went over to the dresser and started righting the drawers, but a distraught Samara stopped her.  

"My Lady, I will get these for you. Please, why don’t you step onto the porch for a bit of fresh air? It will do wonders to settle your nerves." 

Viola squeezed her nose, probably praying for patience just like Loral was. "I am fine Samara, I am not a delicate doll that will break from a small bit of trouble. I would like to help clean the mess." 

Loral was fairly sure Samara's eyes couldn’t get much bigger, but, Viola's words proved her wrong. Its was like looking at a classic greek woman with big anime eyes. Not terrible, but kind of funny.  

"Oh my Lady, I must insist that you don’t." Did bad things happen to servants who don’t clean the mess even if the Lady of the house insisted on helping? Food for thought. "I will ring the kitchen for some wine, it should help pass the time." And with that the little lady slipped back inside the room.  

Viola sat in a cushioned lounge chair, wine in hand for much of the evening. Only when it became too dark to read did she finally move inside to sleep.  

 

**************** 

 

The hum of the Altus was the first thing Loral became aware of, the light slowly penetrating her eyes as she became more aware. "Welcome back Miss Black," the technicians voice came through the earpiece.  

"Take a minute to reorient yourself while I shut down the machine, this will take just a minute."  

She felt the table move back out, the whirring getting quieter as the machine shut down. Hands at her feet and wrists untied the straps one by one. With a groan she slowly sat up, hands on her shoulders helping her stay steady then taking off the headset and glasses. Blurry eyed Loral blinked before looking at the man. James right? Maybe, um.  

"How are you feeling Miss Black?" 

"Like I just had the most realistic dream ever. Wow." She grinned in response to his. 

"Yeah, just wait til we find a more exciting one, you might not like it so much then." 

"So..." She frowned. "We're not going back to that one?"  

James shrugged. "We might, it's not for me to decide.  These first few sessions are exploratory, gives us a chance to pick one we really want to see." He glances down at his watch. "You were only in for a few minutes, but we don’t want to over do it in case your mind rejects the machine. So that should give you plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your day. If there's any problems, you get dizzy, feel sick, vertigo, visions, let us know right away ok? Otherwise I'll see you again in two days, same time, same place." 

 

************* 

 

 Seeing Nevalia up ahead Loral tried to catch up. “Hey pretty lady, you busy right now?” 

Loral wasn't kidding about Nevalia being pretty, although downright sexy as hell was probably closer to the mark. If she swung that way she would totally go for her. With her dark caramel mocha skin and  curves in all the right places figure, long black braids to her butt and blue eyes- yes people, blue my heart just stopped eyes! This woman seriously was blessed. 

“Loral, how'd it go?”  

Loral hugged her jacket closer, the thick cotton not quiet keeping her still very skeletal figure warm. 

“It was pretty cool. Makes those VR machines look like utter crap.”  

Nevalia quirked a brow. “VR machines? Oh, virtual reality? Those finally came out! Oh wow, are the games cool, can you tell it's fake or is it life like?”  

Loral laughed, “Your nerds showing.” 

Linking their arms the two walked down the hall, Loral explaining the good and bad of the VRs. “You think maybe we can request one?” 

Nevalia snorted. “I don't know Lo, we kind of have the ultimate VR already, it doesn't get more real then that.” 

“That's true. So how many lives have you lived so far?” 

“You know we’re not allowed to talk about it with other patients, it's a violation of privacy…thing.” 

“If I read it right we aren't allowed to give details, it said nothing about generalizing. Like the one today, I found out I was probably a slut in that life.” 

“Ouch lol, not a good start. Ok, I’ve had four so far and so far the most interesting one I was some kind of animal. I lived in the trees and it was so liberating! Animals are so lucky…their more simplistic emotions make life so much more enjoyable.” 

“I'm actually jealous,” Loral muttered before the waiter came by. After ordering they sat back and discussed the pros and cons of being emotional beings which eventually lead to discussing boys. 

“I haven't dated in seven years,” Loral admitted. “I had one guy interested about a year back but I totally ruined my chances there.” 

“Ah, you chased him off didn't you?” 

“Hard, oh geez it was so embarrassing. Then afterwards I got sick so I didn't even consider trying again.” 

“Well, I don't know but I think that guy over there is staring at you. Maybe you'll get lucky here,” Nevalia gave her a crooked grin.  

The man wasn't bad looking, but he had a dark auburn beard hiding most of his face, which didn't really draw her interest. As soon as she looked he dropped his gaze, but from the grin on Nevalia’s face he must have looked again as soon as she turned away. 

"No Nevalia." Nevalia just took a bite of her hamburger the waiter had just delivered, a teasing glint in her eyes.


	4. Eenie Meenie Miney Mo

"And when I go in you can stay outside." The woman talking was an elf- an ELF! Loral just hit cloud nine. She had dark auburn hair with sky blue eyes, long pointy elf ears and a strange almost tribal like tattoo on her face. Her host shook their head at the words the young elf in front of them was saying. "You know I'm right, isa'ma'lin. If we both go in and get caught it will not be good. If one of us goes in while the other waits then our chances of us both leaving here is greater." 

Isa'ma'lin? Loral laughed at herself. She's always wanted a man's perspective on things but actually being a man was not what she'd meant.  Wait, how did she know what that meant? Had she heard it somewhere before? If they were siblings then that meant her host was an elf too! Loral was doing her happy dance inside. 

"I get what your saying," her host's deep voice answered. "Doesn’t mean I have to like it. Where should I wait while you go in?"  

"Hmm, how about here, at camp? If I don't come back by sundown you can come find me."   

"I'm going to hold you to that Ellana. See you tonight." He held out his arm, the tattooed woman in front of him clasping his arm before running off. Loral decided to call this guy Man Dude since she had no name for him. The next few hours were spent gathering herbs and hunting a few rabbits for lunch. Once done he stored the leftover food and buried the torch he'd used to roast the rabbits. Man Dude, was a mage. A MAGE!! She was over the moon excited, thrilled beyond words at the prospect of seeing more of this man's life. To know first hand what it was like to be a mage beat video games any day.  The sun was high when the ground started to shake, a massive green flash in the distance prompting Man Dude to run towards a temple on the mountainside. The flash imploded before the entire temple exploded out, the resulting blast knocking him into a nearby tree.  

 

   
************* 

 

"Loral, give me a thumbs up if you can hear me," James's voice floated through the headset. "Ok, good. You were only in there a few minutes but that was pretty intense. Do you think you can handle another run or would you like to stop for now? Give me an up for yes or down for no." 

Loral gave him another thumbs up, why not. Hopefully it would be something good to help her forget that she had actually felt pain from that explosion. A naggy part of her mind said she should mention it, but an even bigger part of her gut said don’t you tell. Momma always said follow your gut, so she did.  

"Alright, we're going to try for even farther back. Let's see if we can figure out how old your soul is." 

 

************* 

 

 

 

She could feel her hair bob up and down as the excited young body she now inhabited ran through a field of yellow flowers while throwing a ball to a man nearby. Tucking a strand of hair behind a long pointed ear she scream laughed in true child form as a man picked her up and tossed her into the air.  I'm a little girl elf, Loral exclaimed to herself. And man is an elf too! I totally just felt that ear!  

Gaining her feet she ran off towards a floating green misty thing that beckoned her to follow it behind some bushes.   

"What is that Curious?" Weird thing to name that green thing. Lot's of glowy green things in these past lives so far, it really made Loral wonder. The girls little body leaned close allowing her to see something, a dark shape, in the shade, but she couldn't make out what it was. The creature moved, drawing a startled yelp from her. It's a wolf! But the little girl didn't budge, actually moved a little closer. The large black canine was lying on it's side, paws moving like it was running in it's sleep. The girl moved to wake it but Curious stopped her.   

"Don't," Curious whispered, blocking her hand. "He is confused, scared. Let him wake on his own."  

Loral felt something, something she had no name for, stretch out of the little girl and hover close to the wolf. Whatever it was it had no shape, like air, but a very strong feeling to it.  The wolf opened six red eyes, three on each side of it's face; warily watching her as she sat close, cheeks in her hands. "Hello fen," she crooned. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but you were moving in your sleep. Is that normal?"  

Curious suddenly blocked her from the wolf, pushing her back behind it. "I apologize my lord. Please forgive the young one for disturbing you, I would not have shown you to her if I had known who you were."  Who knew the green mist could move stuff. Note to self, it may look like mist but it can feel very solid. 

 _'You are fine, Spirit, no one has offended'._ A man's melodic voice came from the wolf, gentle and kind.  A shiver ran down Loral's metaphysical body, that voice, just, wow.  

The wolf perked his ears, a strange expression on his face as it studied the young girl. ' _Do you have a name_ _da'lan_ _?'_   

"I'm Miolu'vun," she stated proudly. "But baba calls me brat. Why are you sleeping here? Do you have a name?"  

The wolf stood up, towering over the young girl and as he shook his coat a green mist covered his body and another elf man stepped out. Loral was starting to sense a theme with all this green stuff. There is a wolf pelt wrapped around his shoulders, attaching at the belt, leaving his chest bare. Long, thick black hair hung down one side of his head, while the other side was bare.  All Loral could think was- If I was ten years younger I would so tag this dude.  

"You may call me Solas, Miolu'vun. Do you often run off alone and wake things in the dark?" He crouched down beside her, an amused twinkle in his stormy blue eyes.  

The little girl huffed in exasperation. "Maaaybe. Sometimes."  

"All the time." Curious whispered under it's breath.  

"Hey! You do too!"  

"Do not!"  

"Do too!"  

Solas laughed as he watched the small child jump up to Curious, the child's ire leading to more bickering then a short wrestling match before Solas finally stopped it.   

"Do your parents know where you are da'lan?"  

"Out, I'm always out! Baba says I will be the death of him."  

The man laughs again and Loral decided this could be her favorite life so far, as long as this guy stuck around.  

"Come da'lan," he gently grasped her hand. "Let us walk back to the village, I'm sure someone is looking for you."  

Not too far away the first elf man with the strange vine like face tattoo turned to the sound of their approach, then swiftly bowed, bent knees and all.  

"None of that," Solas said to the man. "I came to return a wandering little elf. She seems to be as bad as her spirit friend here."  So the green thing is a spirit. Good to know. 

"That she is, my L-", Solas raised a brow, a silent warning. "Ser. She's the light of our lives, my wife and I. We couldn’t have been better blessed if Mythal herself had handed her to us." 

 _'Mythal?'_ Weird, Loral almost felt like she'd asked that one out loud. And from the way Solas turned to Miolu'vun as Loral asked it, brow crinkling as he studied her tiny face, it was like he'd heard her too. 

 _'Can you hear me?'_  

The barely perceptible nod was his only answer before he turned back to the other man. "My name is Solas. What may I call you?" 

"Oh! Serrah, forgive me. My name is Deycen, me and my wife Valynni, along with our daughter live in the village up the way." 

Solas raised his head in the direction of the village, a disgruntled look on his face. "A village of Elgar'nan's, judging from your vallaslin. He would not be happy to find me here." He hummed. "Ser Deycen, with your permission I would like to come back another time to spend more time with your young daughter. For now I must return, I imagine there are a few, disgruntled people, looking for me." 

"Oh course my-ser. We would be happy to welcome you." 

Solas squatted down to Miolu'vun's level, holding her small hands. "I will see you again later Da'lan, try to leave the creatures in the dark alone til then please?"  

Loral was fairly certain the little girl was pouting as she swung back and forth on one leg, eyes darting about. "Okay," she mumbled.  

Solas went to stand when in a silly fit Loral called out, _'Fair thee well, Sir Solas. Til we meet again!'_ He stopped briefly, an amused little twinkle in his eye. His eyes flared bright, like lightning, before settling back into their normal gray blue. With a bow of his head he turned and left.  Magic? Did they have magic in this world. Well dummy there are elves here, have you ever heard a tale of elves without magic somehow involved? No? Well there's your answer. 

"Miolu'vun," Deycen chastised as soon as Solas was out of sight. "What have I told you about running off like that!"  

The little girl looked at her feet. "To not to." 

 "We are lucky, ashalan, that Solas is a good man. Now let us be off, your mother cried supper a while back and your dear baba is hungry." Giggling as his stomach gave a growl Miolu'vun raced him back to their hut, where mamae's cooking permeated the air.  

"Go, da'lin," Valynni swatted her lightly as she entered the hut. "Wash your hands first." 

The little girl ran back out of the hut just as Valynni turned to ask Deycen what had happened. On the back side of the hut there was a small covered bathing alcove, the bucket inside had a strange drawing on the side that Loral could only assume was a rune since it glowed and the water was pleasantly warm. Grabbing soap Miolu'vun, who Loral decided then and there to call her Miol since her name was a bit of a mouthful, washed her face and hands quickly then rubbed them dry on a nearby cloth.  

"And your positive it was him," Valynni asked when Miol walked back in. 

"Not a single doubt, my dear. It seems our Miolu'vun has caught his attention, he wishes to visit again." 

"Miolu'vun, I want you to practice pouring the tea again." 

"But mamae!" 

"No but's, da'lan. You will need to be the best when our Lord comes to fetch you, only the best get the good positions."  

"Yes mamae,"Miol bowed her head, a small bend in her knees as she did it." Were these people servants? Made sense, Solas had said something about someone owning this village, that must be the Lord in question. Edgar'non? Egar'nan? Oh! Elgar'nan, yeah, that dude. Already don’t like him.  The meal was simple, some kind of stew that Miol wound up wearing a bit of, making Valynni gently chastise her. Afterwards she spent probably a hour practicing carrying a tea tray with a metal tea set, then setting it down and pouring the cups, just right. Also how to humbly back away once the tray is delivered should the mistress wish to do it all herself and the proper word for each item on the tray should they wish to discuss anything about it.  For as small as Miol was she was very good, making Loral wonder how old she was. What kind of elves were these, the mortal kind or the immortal kind? Immortal would explain why it seemed Miol was the only child in the village, everyone else appeared to be in their early twenties.  

Finally the sun started to fall and Loral watch with Miol as two moons rose in the distance, luminous stars shining around them. This was a whole new planet. Loral figuratively sat in awe. Here was proof of life on another planet! At least there was at one time, James had said he was throwing her back pretty far.  Finally Miol climbed into a small closet like space in the hut, closing a curtain before curling up in blankets and drifting off to sleep.  

 

"Welcome back," James quipped as the machine died down. Hands gently untied the straps at her wrists and ankles, just like last time, staying until she sat up, just like last time. "That was a mind blower there wasn't it?" His grin was infectious.  

"Yeah, both of them. Life on another planet, elves-"  

"Shhh," he warned. "Just remember your not allowed to talk about these to anyone." 

"That's why I'm going straight to my room after this one, I need to digest this." 

"Good idea. Our next session will probably be a full one, something tells me the Director will pick one of these to explore." 

Right before she walked out she turned back around. "Hey James? How far back was that second one?" 

"Twelve thousand years. We may or may not check that life out first. If it's anything like someone else's who wound up around that time and era, that is probably the longest life you've lived." 

"Immortals?" 

"Oh, your quick. Yeah, at that time they were still immortal. Later soul travelers on that planet show that changed somehow. Now go," he laughed at himself. "Before I say too much. I love my job too much to loose it." 

Loral smiled, "Yes sir, I can understand that. See you in a few." 

"Yup, see yah." 

She didn’t mention Solas had heard her. It was her secret, one of the only ones she had.


	5. Miolu'vun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments, ya'll are awesome :D

"Solas!" The man in question spun around as a lithe body hurled itself into his arms.  "I have missed you ma'falon!"  

"Miolu'vun," he laughed, setting her down. "You are getting too big for me to carry urchin! Where is the young lady I am supposed to be meeting today, all I see is this child." He smirked.  

Miolu'vun rubbed her arm, her nervousness obvious. Yup, Loral had suspected it for awhile now but know she was very sure, these two like each other. Dashing it away Miol grabbed his arm, leaning heavy as she led him to the garden path.   

 _'_ _Solas_ _, if you decide to try something let me know before hand so I can, uh, 'step out'_ _._ _'_  

 _'_ _Oh? And what if it's you_ _I want to try something with_ _?_ _'_  

Loral laughed. _'_ _That is_ _cruel and unusual punishment- for both of us._ _'_  

The grin that spread over his face was breathtakingly sexy, both girls sucking in a breath of want. 

"I'll have you know, good ser, that I am the lady in question."  

"Really?" He stopped, pretending to wipe dirt from her face and ruffled her hair. "Well perhaps."  

"Solas!" He laughed at her indignant shout.  

"Miolu'vun," Mamae shouted. "Come here da'lan."  

Loral was so lost in watching the burgeoning romance between these to that she was actually shocked to see the sun was setting already. After nearly fifty years of this you would think she'd be used to how fast time few. She pondered that word, time. Living in Miolu'vun, an immortal, really put new meaning to it.  Of course she hadn't experienced the whole fifty years, she'd spent the last two months, her time, living here. Do the math right and that was only about sixteen years worth. And she loved every second of it, especially when Solas came to visit.  

"Be right there mamae." She shouted back. "I will be back soon ma'falon, and then I want to hear all about how Arlathan has changed these last hundred years."   

"I eagerly await your return." He did something new this time, bringing Miol's hand to his lips, a bare caress before releasing it as he stared deeply into her eyes. She backed up slowly before turning, a skip in her step as Loral imagined a loopy stupid grin probably graced her face.  

Miolu'vun's pace slowed as she neared her home, eyes trained on the man standing next to her mamae. No, please creators no.  

"Miolu'vun, this is Lord Elgar'nan." Mamae's voice is dead, lifelessly pleasant only for the sake of the man next to her.  "Lord Elgar'nan, this is my daughter Miolu'vun, as requested."  

The man barely looked at her before turning to something behind her. "Ah, Lord Fen'harel, what brings you to this fair village?" His voice was smug, a dark humor hovered in his eyes.  

Miolu'vun turns to look- and saw only Solas. His posture was different, regal, no hint of her friend anywhere about him. The gaze he leveled at Lord Elgar'nan was polite and indifferent. "Something tells me you know exactly why I am here Elgar'nan. Your timing is impeccable."  

"L-Lord Fen'h-harel?" A flicker of Solas's eye confirmed that he had heard Miol's quiet whimper. He was the Dread Wolf?  Why had _he_ not told her? Them. Although, from the stories she'd gathered, Miol could kind of understand why, no one liked their past hanging over them at all times.  Still, he should have said something.  

"Of course," Lord Elgar'nan bowed slightly, mockingly. "Have you met my newest servant, my Lord? I feel there is a little something...special, about her. I do so look forward to figuring out what it is. Among other things, she is rather pretty, isnt she." Miolu'vun staggered as Loral imagined punching the arrogant Lord in the face. It hurt, knowing Miol was defenseless, having never been taught anything but how to run a house.  

 _'_ _You fucking prick, don’t you dare touch her! GAHHHH!_ _'_ Never before had Loral felt so useless, her hands beating on an invisible wall. 

 _'_ _Quiet Loral! We cannot risk that he can hear you too!_ _H_ _e cannot find out about you_ _!_ _'_  

 _'_ _Oh stuff it_ Fen'harel. _I don’t see you trying to stop this!_ _'_  

Solas stood completely still, only a tick in his jaw giving clues to his inner turmoil.   

 _'_ _I am unable to do anything,_ _at least_ _at this time. Forgive me Loral, I didn’t mean to_ _deceive_ _._ _'_ Why was he apologizing to her when he should be apologizing to Miol? ' _I was so happy to find someone who wanted to spend time with me, not my title. I will find a way to fix this._ _'_  

Lord Egar'nan's soldiers surround Miol, attaching a metal collar around her neck and pulling her slight  form past the people gathered. No one moved to help her, to stop these men. Their heads all bent in unhappy acceptance, even Miol, although for her it was more shock then acceptance. 

 _'_ _Keep your hands to yourself!_ _'_ Loral screamed when one of the soldiers fondled Miol's butt as he shoved her onto a waiting cart.  

"Why, Lord Elgar'nan, do you feel the need to humiliate her so?" Despite his relaxed demeanor Solas's voice was tight, rough. ' _You must calm down Loral._ _'_ Elgar'nan calmly looked on, challenging Solas with his eyes.   

"I own her parents wolf, and therefore own her. She has been mine since her birth and I will do whatever I want with it."  

Miol kept her eyes trained on Solas as everyone mounted up, completely unaware that in Loral's distress Miol's sky blue eyes had turned a vibrant forest green.  

 

************* 

 

Loral woke up, disoriented. She'd had that dream again, the one of Solas. His presence stalked her dreams, every thought revolving around where was he, what was he doing, will we see him again.  Nearly two years, her time, had passed, and Miol had not seen him even once. James started separating her visits by larger time gaps, so in Miol's time nearly three thousand years had passed. And not a word. Loral wanted to be mad, but she knew it wasn’t his fault. Whispers of his visits would float amongst the other slaves, the arguments between the two Gods usually ending up in physical altercations. Elgar'nan always treated Miol worse after Solas's visits. The bruises, and at time broken bones, taking weeks if not months to heal. He never allowed healers to tend her, fearful Mythal would hear about it.  

Mythal was a beautiful woman, the gentle goddess kind and giving. A few times Miol had caught the lovers arguing about her, Elgar'nan refusing to even listen as Mythal tried to understand why he simply wouldn’t give her to Fen'harel.  Loral refused to call him that, he would always be Solas to her. Life became routine, no special adventures anymore as Miol's spirit became crushed, the spring in her step gone. At least once a month Elgar'nan would take Miol to a special room, the magic wards silencing her screams as he experimented on her, convinced she was hiding something. She was, but Miol didn’t know that.  

Loral started having trouble telling what was real and what was the past, the raw feelings of Miol's despair clinging to her like a rotten second skin. Loral stopped gaining weight, her mere ninety pounds barely keeping her rail thin frame from drifting away. The doctors refused to stop the Altus sessions, and Loral refused to even think of quitting. She knew the truth, even if they wouldn’t tell her, and would rather live Miol's torturous life then face the dull reality of her own. Nevalia had left about a month ago, no one talked about what happened. Just that she was gone. The strange bearded guy still watched her, his blue eyes strangely familiar. But every time they tried to talk someone would interrupt, to the point it became obvious they were doing it on purpose. So Loral only had Miol. But like all things, that eventually changed.  

 

 

**************** 

 

 

Loral came to awareness as a hand held Miol's, the long gentle fingers at once familiar and foreign. Miol sighed, rolling over in her sleep as she cuddled into the body behind her, gripping the hand tighter. Loral was confused, how much time had passed? Who was this other person? Male, of that she was blushingly sure. They were both dressed, and it felt like bandages may once again cover parts of Miol's body.  

 _'_ _Now what_ _'_ , she grumbled.  

The body behind Miol went stiff before pulling her in tight, both arms holding her tight. ' _Loral._ _'_ Lips brushed the back of Miol's neck.  

 _'_ _Solas_ _!?_ _'_ Loral wouldn't admit to the sudden explosion of joy in her heart, but she couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. ' _Oh I would totally smack you_ _right now if I had my own hands, then hug you_ _so stupidly silly_ _!_ _'_  

His breath huffed against Miol's neck as he chuckled. ' _I've missed you too_ _,_ _falon_ _._ _'_   His grip tightened again, making Miol moan a little as he buried his head in the curve of her neck. His body shuttered as he breathed deep. 

'Solas?' 

 _'_ _Forgive me Loral, I am not myself right now. I thought- it_ _doesn't_ _matter. What matters is I was wrong, and never have I been so grateful for that_ _._ _'_  

 _'_ _H_ _ow...what happened? I don’t know how much time has passed this time.  Last time was right after_ _Falon'din_ _and_ _Andruil_ _nearly killed each other over I don’t even know what at_ _Mythal's_ _temple._ _'_  

 _'_ _Ah, yes. That fight. Nearly four hundred years have passed_ _since then,_ _vhenan_ _. What has happened that so much time has gone between your visits_ _?_ _'_  

Loral decided to ignore his declaration, reminding herself he loved Miol, not her.  

 _'_ _I told you before_ _Solas_ _, I have no control over this. I am but a puppet, going_ _where_ _my masters_ _will it._ _'_  

 _'_ _When I finally found a way to get to_ _Miolu'vun_ _again,_ _y_ _ou were gone, I_ _couldn’t find any trace of you. I learned the truth of my feelings then, as I tended her that first time._ _I swore I would protect_ _her_ _as best I can, for you and her, but centuries passed and you never returned...why?_ _I..I thought_ _Elgar'nan_ _had succeeded._ _'_  

 _'_ _Solas_ _._..' Loral felt like crying _._ Why this man? Why did she have to so deeply love this man she could never have.  _'_ _Why_ _havent_ _you taken her from this place?  Is...is she ok_ _?_ _'_  

 _'_ _I cannot_ _ma'enlea_ _. If I took her_ _Elgar'nan_ _would know, and he would not come alone to fetch her_ _._ _She still wont tell me what he_ _does in that room. It was...she will not let me heal her, and her body is not healing on its own like it used to._ _Our people are changing Loral;_ _people are aging faster, magic doesn’t work as well._ _The people are at war now and while it is mostly small_ _skirmishes so far_ _,_ _I fear this is just the beginning. The_ _Evanuris_ _are unwilling to let their slaves go, and we both know this cannot continue._ _'_  

Miol sat up suddenly, dislodging Solas.  

"Oh no!" She jumped off the cot, hurriedly changing into fresh clothes. "Why did you not wake me, falon? I cannot be late, he will notice." 

 _'_ _Falon_ _?_ _I_ _had assumed..._ _'_  

 _'_ _Yes_ _m_ _a'enlae_ _._ _I have not crossed that line with her. Even if I so desired to, she is too broken._ _'_  

Loral knew only too well how true his words were. While she had a way of escaping Elgar'nan's more invasive treatments, Miol did not.  

The months passed quickly, Solas sneaking into the slaves courters nearly every night. All the other slaves seemed to know, but none said a word. Some even smiled gently as Solas tended to Miol's wounds, seeming happy that someone was there to care for her. Loral and Solas talked as Miol slept, sometimes of her world like they used to do, or of his and all that had changed outside the temple.  He wasn’t kidding about the revolution, and even proudly proclaimed he had started it. He had a Temple being built in a hidden place, a safe haven for slaves seeking freedom. He had plans to take Miol once it was ready. That night Solas held Miol's body tight, both Loral and him knowing her time was about up.  

Someone was shaking Solas, trying to wake him. "You must wake," a scared female voice whispered. "He comes!" 

 _'_ _Solas_ _!_ _'_ Loral cried, trying to help. Heavy footsteps trudged down the steps, a body thumping into the wall before continuing. Oh shit, he's drunk. ' _SOLAS!_ _'_  

Solas jerked behind her, instantly becoming aware of the approaching man. ' _Hide, now!_ _'_ His body left hers, not so much as a creak of the bed giving away that he had been there.  A woman gave a stifled cry, waking Miol who stayed perfectly still.  

"Not you," Elgar'nan muttered before a body thumped to the ground. Miol peeked her eyes open to see the woman cowering on the floor as Elgar'nan's drunken gaze roamed the room, finally settling on her.  

"And what's this," he muttered. "Are you sharing your bed girl?" How did he? He leaned in close, nose brushing the blankets as he took a deep breath. "Fen'harel," he snarled. Grabbing Miol by the throat Elgar'nan lifted her up, slamming her into a wall. "You dared to allow that creature into your bed!? You are mine girl, and I don’t share!" Each word was punctuated by him slamming her into the wall, her eyes going foggy as blood dripped down her neck from his clawed glove. 

The servants scattered out of the room as deep snarls echoed through the halls, the large six eyed wolf barely visible in Miol's failing sight. Loral could feel it, could feel Miol's heart shuddering as it frantically tried to keep going with it's lack of air. He had crushed her throat, no air would flow. Her head wobbled before dropping back, eyes falling shut. Elgar'nan dropped her body as the wolf lunged, the sounds of battle the only sense Loral had to keep track of the fight with. Miol didn’t move. Her heart skipped, fluttered wildly, then stopped.  

 _'_ _Miol_ _!_ _'_ Loral screamed. _'_ _No_ _No_ _NO_ _NONONONONONO! MIOLU'VUN_ _!_ _'_  

There was a loud cry before a body hit the floor, then hands roamed her body, panicked breaths covering her face as Solas pulled her close. A bright light engulfed her, like a electrical charge jolting her whole body as she screamed inside.  

"Come back to me Loral, come on, don’t leave me. Miol, Loral, please." He plead whispered against Miol's forehead. "Open your eyes..." His voice was ragged, tears evident in his voice.  

 

************** 

Solas POV 

Solas sent another jolt of lightning into her broken body, hoping against hope that her heart would start. Please, he begged. He had just gotten her back, he couldn’t loose her! 

Mythal walked into the room, gliding past the torn body of her lover to kneel over Miol, a gentle hand on Solas's shoulder drawing his broken gaze to her. "I can save her body, falon. But I cannot promise her spirits remain." 

"You know." 

"I have always known, falon." He nodded his consent. 

Laying a hand over Miol's chest purple light spread out of Mythal, Miol's broken body healing as they watched, Solas praying it worked. As the glow got brighter a gasp left Miol's body, eyes flying wide as they darkened to forest green. Mythal stepped away, checking on Elgar'nan.  

"Solas," Loral's husky voice breathed, her eyes darting his way. 

"Loral?" His voice was shocked, choking with unshed tears. 

Raising her hand, she shakily ran it from his forehead to his chin, poking in a little at his dimple as a small smile escaped her lips. "I can touch you," she whispered. His hand cupped hers around his cheek as he looked into her eyes.  

She lunged up, wrapping her arms around him tight as she cried. "She's gone Solas. She's gone." Sobs wracked her body as his arms wrapped around her and pressed her head into his cheek. His heart seesawed back and forth as he rocked her body, elation that he was touching Loral, despair that Miol was gone. Then the dreaded realization that Loral's time was about up, that she was leaving too.  A whine left his throat, as both he and his wolf mourned their impending lose. 

Before he knew it his lips captured hers, a spell he didn’t realize he knew forcing it's way into her as he tried to keep her with him, Mythal's power swelled behind him as she added to the spell. Lifting his head he stared down into her eyes, her smile fading as her master's called her back. For the first time in Solas's long life, he broke inside. 

  


	6. Onto the Breach

It was a month before they finally cleared Loral to re enter the Altus, deeming her mentally fit enough to handle a new life. She laughed at that. They never knew about her last moments with Solas, making her realize they only see what her host saw, nothing beyond that.  Taking a deep breath she gave a thumbs up to James, willing her body to relax as he activated the machine.  

 

***************** 

 

His gaze was on the little town below them, the massive trees around the fence line covering his presence as he stared at the largest building in the middle. A bald elf and strawberry blond dwarf came out of the building, their hurried strides quickly directing them up the mountain path towards the temple ruins. Soon after a tall dark haired woman and a hooded ginger walked up to the front of the building, talking frantically before going inside. Then it was quiet for a bit.  

The hooded woman came back out, then the dark haired woman, followed by Ellana. Man Dude sucked in a breath at the sight of his sister, his grip on the tree almost punishing. The dark lady pushed Ellana through a town full of angry people before finally cutting the rope restraints on her wrists at the start of the mountain path.  

Man Dude quickly descended from the tree, his sure agile movements putting many par core practitioners to shame, reaching the ground in seconds. Without so much as a breath to settle himself he took off in the direction of his sister. Keeping a safe distance he soon seemed to realize the same thing Loral did. Ellana was following the dark lady of her own free will.  

We saw the two women as the dark one was helping Ellana stand up.  

"The larger the rift grows, the more rifts appear, the more demons we face." She was saying. 

"How did I survive the blast?" They were both jogging, about to cross a bridge when Loral finally remembered why all of this seemed so familiar. She mentally slapped herself. How had she not put the pieces together sooner? If she was honest with herself the thought had crossed her mind once, in the beginning. Because how common of a name for a male elf was Solas? Or Fen'harel. Stupid, stupid, stupid, her mental beating continued. Wait, she stopped herself. Something happens to this bridge right? 

_'Go around the bridge,'_ She shouted at Man Dude, shocked when he lost his footing and stumbled.  

"Who said that?" 

_'Wait, you heard me?'_  

Just then a green fireball hit the bridge, throwing the two women about to cross to the frozen pond below. 

"Oh creators, I'm possessed." Man Dude went to put his head in his hands but stopped as he saw Ellana, and Cassandra, she finally remembered, start fighting off demons that appeared from the ground.  

_'You are not possessed!'_ She thought fast. _'Try to project your_ _words_ _at me instead of talking out loud, we don’t want people to get the wrong idea. My name is Loral, I am not a demon. I am not here to hurt anyone_ _nor do I have any desire to take control of you, only to help if I can.'_  

He threw out a weak barrier to cover Ellana, carefully staying out of sight.  

_'Can you hear me? Oh creators, this is crazy.'_  

_'Your telling me, I've never been able to talk to my host before. Take the top route, she_ _won't see you.'_  

He jumped across the remains of the bridge, watching as Ellana shot him a quick wink before sprinting to catch up to Cassandra. _'How do you know that? Do your demon senses tell you these things?'_  

_'Oh come off it. Are you that determined to be_ _possessed_ _by_ _a demon? Cause I'll just_ _disappoint_ _you there. And Cassandra never looks up without reason, so she wont notice as long as_ _you keep quiet.'_  

_'No I really don't want that...'_  

_'Good, so shut up about it. I want to help, if you'll let me. We can_ _discuss_ _this more later, you need to get up those steps before your sister shows up.'_  

He scaled a large set of stone steps, pulling his magic tight to him as he hid behind a broken stone wall. The sounds of a fight could be heard on the other side, but instead of looking he watched for Ellana, finally stepping out when she passed.  

The bald elf and beard less dwarf were here fighting, and with the additional help of Ellana and Cassandra they quickly finished off the demons under the rift.  

Baldy grabbed Ellana's hand, shouting, "Quickly, before more come through!" And raising her green; Loral sighed, of course it's green; hand to the rift, the energy visibly snapping between them until Ellana closed her fist and yanked back hard, closing the rift.  

"What did you do," she mumbled. 

" _I_ did nothing. The credit is yours." Oh jiminy friggin crickets, Loral thought in shock. How is this possible? 

Ellana studied her hand again. "At least this is good for something." 

"Whatever magic opened the Breach in the sky also placed that mark upon your hand." Professor Solas has entered the building, Loral thought, still mentally fumbling at his presence. "I theorized the mark might be able to close the rifts that have opened in the Breach's wake- and it seems I was correct." 

_'Fuck_ _..._ _a_ _..._ _duck.'_ It was random, she knew it. But it was the only thing her mind could think to say. And if the complete stillness of his body was anything to go by, Solas had heard her. 

_'Do what? Why would you want to_ _do that_ _? That is so-'_  

_'_ _Oy_ _vey..._ _Look, i_ _ts just a saying, don't take it literally. Now shush, I can't hear.'_  

Ellana was looking at Varric as she spoke. "Are you with the Chantry or..." 

Solas huffed a laugh, his head swinging to the side where we were standing, searching. "Is that a serious question?" 

"Technically I'm a prisoner, just like you." Loral tried to pay attention, but just then Solas's eyes found Man Dudes and she couldn’t think. It really was him... 

_'Oh, you, Man Dude._ ' Man Dude crossed his arms, confused at the title. 

_'Are you talking to me?'_  

_'Yeah, you._ _Unless you want me to keep calling you that, would you mind telling me your name?_ ' 

His hand came up to stifle a laugh. _'_ _Mahanon_ _. I am pleased to meet you, Loral._ _'_  

_'Don’t go counting your blessing yet_ _Mahanon_ _, you may yet come to regret meeting me. I'm told I can be annoyingly inquisitive at times.'_  

_'Ha!'_  

Mahanon froze. _'Who was that? There isn't another creature besides you in my head is there?'_  

_'Nope, don’t fret_ _da'lin_ _, you'll find out soon enough I'm sure. Now lets be off before we loose sight of your sister.'_  

Getting past the second bridge was harder then the first, there were a bunch of people milling about up there. Thankfully most of them were busy watching a heated argument with some chantry guy Loral didn’t remember the name of, thus allowing Mahanon to go fairly unnoticed to the woods on the other side. She was positive she felt Solas's eyes on them.  

_'Why are you staying hidden still, won_ _'_ _t_ _Ellana_ _vouch for you?'_  

_'Until I know they won_ _'_ _t try to kill her, and me, I think it's best to stay hidden.'_  

_"_ _Ahh_ _, smart. Ok.'_  

Loral sighed in relief as Ellana picked the direct path, cleaving through the demons until they sealed the rift outside the Temple of Sacred Ashes remains.  

"Sealed, as before. You are becoming quiet proficient at this." Solas stood proud next to Ellana, like a teacher to a student. Or she hoped that was it. Uh, she thought to herself. Jealousy is a bad, bad thing Loral. So knock it off.  

"Let us hope it works on the big one." 

' _Nope, you get the demon the first time. But the second time it does....and the third...'_  

She didn't realize she was rambling outloud until she saw Solas's head facing her, a frown on his face.  

_'Demon?'_ Two voices echoed in her head at the same time. 

_'Wait, that guys the other voice?'_  

_'What demon_ _,_ _Loral,'_ Sola's voice was oddly cold, ignoring Mahanon.  

Loral was nervous now. That is not a voice she had ever heard him use on her. This world was completely different from how it was when she was Miol, and here she was in a whole new, male, body. Was this coldness she felt from Solas due to this, or was it personal?  

_'Loral!_ _What. Demon.'_ Even Mahanon seemed upset from the tone Solas was using.  

_'You have to reopen the rift to_ _temporarily_ _seal it_ _.'_ She finally replied as they entered what used to be the entrance. _'A r_ _age demon waits on other side_ _.'_  

_'Is that all?_ _'_  

_'_ _She has done nothing wrong, why must you yell at her like that?'_ Oh Mahanon, such a sweetie. 

_'How I speak to it is none of your concern_ _,_ _apostate!'_ Solas's eyes widened a little from where he was staring at the breach flickering above them. Loral watched as he squeezed them together hard before resuming his serious contemplation of their surroundings.  

Well, Loral thought to herself. That's that. She didn't know what else to say, because in a way that's what she was here. An it. Resolving to help how she could while avoiding Solas she took a fortifying breath, closing her eyes. Now was not the time for a pity party. 

_'Unless you want to join the fight this time_ _,_ _Mahanon_ _,_ _I suggest we wait for your sister in Haven. There is nothing for us here.'_  

_'I'm_ _afraid_ _I'm only skilled in the healing arts, I would hind_ _er people here more than help. I will wait, they may need me afterwards.'_  

She didn't respond, willing herself away to her calm space like she would when Elgar'nan would come for Miol. It made her feel weak, to hide herself in here, but it was too much for her out there right now. First the lose of Miol, and now Solas's rejection.  

She found herself in a black void like space, the unfamiliar area brimming with wild magic. What was this? She sat on the ground, wishing for the first time in years that she was back in her childhood home. Under her hand the gravel softened to grass, and opening her eyes she gasp as she saw the house before her. The large two story building looked exactly like she remembered, even the large willow trees blowing in the breeze next to it. 

"How is this possible? I saw this burn. I WATCHED THIS BURN!" Tears streamed down her face as the image before started to smolder. "NO!" She reached out hopelessly as the flames started. 

"Hush da'lan." A middle aged woman appeared next to her, her odd eyes wide as she approached Loral. "You must calm yourself before you attract more attention." 

Loral was in a full blown panic when she turned to the woman before looking all around. "Why am I seeing this?! Where am I?!" 

"You are in the fade, da'len. This is a first for you?" Strangely the unfamiliar word calmed her. 

"Y-yes. What is the fade? I've never encountered it before." 

"I see. You are the one called Loral, correct?" 

Loral just stared.  

"The fade was not like this before, when last you lived amongst us. I think there might be more to it, but suffice it to say the world has changed much these last few thousand years, and the people in it. This is the place of dreamers, spirits and demons." 

Looking back at the house Loral noticed it wasn’t burning anymore. 

"You control what happens in this space," the woman continued. "Whatever it is you wish. But be warned, not all here are who they seem. Demons will try to control you, possess you. And with how strong your light shines I think even the Dread Wolf will have problems keeping you safe." 

Loral snorted. "As if he would care enough to try. So this is where he went all those times he slept. Never thought I'd be able to come here myself." 

"Yes, it is odd. But it appears you are becoming more attached to this realm, more solid. Perhaps in time you will stay."  

Walking over to the tree swing under the trees Loral sat down, not even bothering to hope. "I will be gone soon enough ghi'lan, but thank you for the thought. Do you have a name?" 

"Of course, I am Wisdom, a spirit of the fade. I felt you enter the fade earlier, your presence is very strong." She looked to the side. "A friend is calling me. I will leave you be, Loral. Please enjoy your time here, but put up barriers if you can, the fade can be just as dangerous as it can be enjoyable." 

"Thank you, Wisdom." The spirit faded off, Loral in shock at meeting the spirit she knew Solas would one day mourn. A barrier huh. Concentrating hard she imagined a steel cube surrounding her space, the top half swirled with a soothing amethyst color, the bottom a more solid agate, with random aquamarine patterns throughout the whole thing. Already she was feeling better, the breeze blowing against her face as the fake sun warmed her face, Lindsey Sterling playing in the background. She decided this may be her new favorite thing.  

 


	7. Fade Meetings

_'Ellana was here earlier, why haven't_ _you_ _tried to see her again?'_  

"Oh I've seen her," Mahanon mumbled out loud, his hands rubbing his sides in an effort to get warmer. "She's too busy flirting with that bald elf to pay her little brother any attention." 

Loral understood why he was upset, Ellana had shunned him quiet publicly when he had tried to approached her after she woke up from the battle at the Breach. But he didn’t try again, in private. Maybe there was a reason behind her behavior? At the same time Loral wanted to stay away too, since Ellana really was flirting all over Solas. It hurt still, seeing him so attentive to another woman, but in time Loral knew it would get easier.  She would never stop loving him, but perhaps someday they would be friends again. 

 _'Ok, enough of this. You need to practice your magic if you want to be seen as more_ _th_ _a_ _n_ _that healer who can only heal. Let's walk, I'll direct you to a good place to practice.'_  

Finding the trail was surprisingly easy as she led him past the cabin and out the back gate.  

 _'This looks good.'_ The field was wide open, only a few druffalo wandering about in the distance.  

"How did you know about this place?"  

 _'Let's just say I have some future knowledge, but I'll only tell you what I think is safe. If I change too much then what I know_ _won_ _'_ _t_ _be true anymore.'_  

 _'Makes sense,'_ he mused. "Ok, what should I work on first?" 

 _'How about fire,_ _oh S_ _ir F_ _lint_ _. Let's build a small fire pit, here looks good.'_  

"Your not going to let me live that down are you." He'd gone to his room last night and had to use a flint and steel to start a fire in his fireplace. A mage- using flint and steel.  

 _'Now why would I do that?'_ She crooned. _'Its not like you’re a mage or anything. Oh wait- yes you are! Ha!'_  

 _"_ Uh, your as bad as my sister. Are you always like this or am I just lucky?"  

' _Come on magic man, let's concentrate on why we're out here. I want you to sit down and cross your legs- not like that, yeah, like that.'_ Once he was sitting indian style she had him practice meditative technics, slowly breathing in and blowing out while imagining a fire in the pit. _'Don’t be wishy washy with it, tell it that what you want. Make your mana flow from your gut to that there stick and say- BURN.'_  

He's been trying maybe half an hour before they heard rustling, and turning watched as Ellana and Solas walked up. 

"Ah, nice little fire you have going there lil'brother. It's just missing a little something." Loral wished Mahanon would look away as Ellana's hand trailed up Solas's arm but couldn’t close her eyes, forced against her riveted will to watch what was happening.  "What do you think Solas," she purred. "You think it might possibly.... heat up?" 

 He snorted, rolling his eyes. "I see nothing here to be impressed by." 

Loral could feel Mahanon squirm, the poor kid was embarrassed. _'Don't listen to them Moe, you can do this._ ' 

 Mahanon fixed a glare on the wood, now fueled with the anger of embarrassment. A small tendril of smoke wafted up, earning a small spark of pride in Loral. Come one, come on, come one, she chanted. You can do this. Finally a tiny flame ignited the kindling.  

"Oh brother, you finally made fire." She made a show of shivering as if in fear. "Let us all fear the mighty fire starter." With a laugh she turned, dragging Solas along. 

 _'No offense Moe but your sister is a bitch. Has she always been so mean?'_  

 _'Yeah...'_  

 _'Huh, well, seems she's in perfect company then.'_  

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Solas lunged back towards them, a growl in his voice. Ellana looked at him, uncertainty written across her face at his odd behavior. _'_ _I will take the Herald's company over a_ _elvar'nas_ _dunathe_ _such as you_ _anyday, demon_ _._ _’_  

 _'Dude, you’re an asshole. What's she ever done to you?'_  

 _'E_ _x_ _ists.'_  

Well, if that's the way it is, then _…'Burn.'_ A blue flame flickered across his skin, instantly igniting his entire tunic which Ellana helped him put out with snow. Despite how it looked Loral knew he was unhurt, and now curious. Blue flame, which is similar to veilfire, is rare, and very few could produce it. Miol had been one. 

"Mahanon! What was that for!"  

Mahanon didn’t even blink at being blamed, crossing his arms as he glowered at them. "Unless there is something more you want I am politely asking you to leave." 

"You know what, yes." Ellana stepped forward. "We leave for the Hinterlands tomorrow. Since your magic is so 'impressive' now that you can attack people with it, your coming along." 

They watched as the pair of elves stormed off. 

 _'I'm sorry Moe.'_  

 _'Nah, it's ok._ _It_ _'_ _s_ _not the first time she's tried to get me killed.'_  

 _'You_ _ain_ _'_ _t_ _gunna_ _die, cowboy, I_ _won_ _'_ _t_ _let you.'_  

 

 _*******************_  

 

 _'Barrier on Cassandra,'_ Loral yelled at Mahanon. An arrow flew by their face as an archer appeared on the hill in front of them. _'Fireball, Moe, straight ahead.'_ The massive red blue ball erupted from his hands and hit the archer face first.  

 _'Solas, behind you!_ ' Solas whipped around to face the rogue sneaking up on him.  

"Varric, get that rogue," Ellana yelled, pointing just past Cassandra. "Move it Mahanon, your slowing us down! I don’t know why I bothered to bring your useless ass along!" 

Even Varric shot her a glare.  Pulling up another barrier around Varric, Moe stepped back, closing his eyes as he heard the last of the attackers fall. _'You did good Moe, don't listen to her.'_  

 _'Oh I know, I'm awesome like that.'_ They shared a laugh.  

 _'Oh no,'_ she play moaned. _'I'm rubbing off on you.'_  

"I see your lessons are coming along well." Solas came up beside them, leaning on his staff. "I may have been... hasty, in stating otherwise." 

Mahanon just huffed, walking off without a word.  

"I'm going to find Mother Giselle. Don’t go too far." Ellana ran off, dragging Solas behind her. 

"Hey Sparky," Varric tapped his arm. "You did good." 

"Thanks." 

"So what's the deal between you two, I thought you were siblings." 

"This, dear Storyteller, is sibling rivalry at it finest. Or it's worst, according to the day.  Since birth she's had it in her mind that she has to get all the attention, be the best – over me at least. Now she's the Herald, I think you can fill in the half a million gaps there." He shrugged. 

"Sorry kid, that sucks." 

 _'Let's go hunt some_ _rams_ _while sissy dearest is busy, these people look hungry.'_  

"Hey guys," Cassandra and Varric turned to him. "These people look hungry, why don’t we go hunt some ram meat for them while we wait?" 

With a nod the three of them left, only too eager go on a real hunting trip.  

"I got one," Varric called. 

"Well your slow, I got three already." Varric huffed at Mahanon's statement, stomping over to check before laughing.  

"That's cheating! How did you get them all in one spot to do that anyways?" Mahanon had cornered his against the rocks, using lightning to kill them. 

"Cassandra helped, she's making so much noise they just ran right over." 

"I heard that."  

They were all still laughing when they arrived back at the Crossroads, dragging the rams behind them. For a mage Moe was rather strong, Loral was finding. And very humble. He told the hunter that the rams were a gift from the Inquisition, not taking any credit for himself. And smart.  

Because when Mahanon drew the villager's attention to him; he, again, forced his sister to want to out do him. She spent the next hour asking all of the villagers if they needed anything, confirming she would be traveling the realm to complete the requests sent her way.  

Later that night, as they sat around the campfire after a long grueling day cleaning out the templars stronghold by the river, and the tower near it, Loral had a thought.  

 _'Hey Moe?'_  

 _'Yes?'_  

 _'Can you remember what happens when you go into the fade?'_  

 _'Sometimes. I'll admit it's not easy for me to do, but not impossible. Why?'_  

 _'I've discovered I can enter the fade, as me.'_  

She didn't see Solas's interested eyes flicker in their direction.  

 _'Would you like to meet me, Moe? The real me?'_  

 

**************** 

The sky glowed red as the clouds hid the setting sun behind them, the silhouette of a giraffe clearly visible to the two people observing it.  

"That's called a giraffe, it's the tallest animal in my world. Plant eater, thank goodness." They shared a laugh.  

"Yeah, I would hate to come across that if it ate meat. No treehouse would be safe." Moe leaned back, finding the reclining chair much to his liking. He had looked the whole thing top to bottom earlier, claiming he would make one for his room in Haven.  

"This is all still so... fantastical to me. You come from another world, like ours and yet nothing like ours. You travel here using-uh." 

"An electronic device. The Altus." 

"And you’re a human version of Solas." 

"Haha-" 

"I beg to differ, Mahanon. She is far more beautiful than I." Loral swung her head around, eyes wide in shock as she stared at Solas. "Although I find her gauntness alarming." 

"Solas! I...uh." Crap. Her brain just underwent full blown nuclear meltdown, nothing left in the aftermath. What do you say to a man who you've known for a millennia and only just now met in person? She had no idea. Especially since he'd been such a dick lately. And why was he here? Her anger overpowered her mental relapse, which he clearly noticed.  

"Mahanon, I apologize but I need to speak to Loral alone. I bid you goodnight." A flick of his finger and Moe vanished, only his chair left behind.  

"What are you doing here Solas?" His eyes bored into hers, searching for something within hers. It was a desperate look, so open and honest it tore at her heart. He was different here, more alive than the condescending ass back in the waking world. This was her Solas.   

Unable to help it she twisted the fade, willing his long hair back, the skull headpiece once again centered on his forehead. "There you are," she whispered, unconsciously raising a hand to cup his cheek. Before she could touch him he flinched away, his breath coming out in rugged breaths.  

"I'm...I'm sorry, I had no right to do that." Her green eyes dropped, unsure where to look. Green eyes he knew well, no matter what face they were in. Green eyes he had loved, cherished, mourned.  

She had a large burn scar covering most of her left cheek, running down her neck and under her clothes. But oddly, it was not the scar that bothered him, but her lack of hair. There was no hair on her head, it was as cleanly bald as his own, nor on her eyebrows or eyelids. He had no idea what her real hair color was. "Your hair? What color is it?" 

Instead of answering she pictured herself as she was before she got sick, her long strawberry blond hair reaching to her ass and a little extra flesh on her bones. His breath sucked in, a finger twisting slowly around a lock of hair. "Ma ane ina'lan'ehn."  _(You are beautiful.)_  

"Thank you." She spoke in a low voice as she allowed her true self to show back through. His brows crinkled slightly before he quickly hid whatever it was he was thinking. 

"I cannot deny it really is you. I find myself disappointed that I was such a fool I missed the chance to meet you weeks ago. How long has it been, for you, since we last met?" 

"A little over a month. Miol's death is still very fresh to me. 

"You said you were getting better, that the sickness..." 

"And you said I was a demon. Guess we were both wrong." The fade around them flickers, and she knows it's him.  Turning she changed it back to her childhood home; sitting on the tree swing. "Why are you here Solas? Last I heard you wanted nothing to do with me."  

Her eyes drifted upwards, watching as an invisible breeze tickled the leaves above her.  

"I could not resist knowing if it really was you. And now that I know I find myself at a loss. This is not how I had imagined our first meeting going." It did something funny on her insides, knowing he has actually imagined it as she has. Knock it off Loral, your not real here remember?  "It appears I am in need of forgiveness, your forgiveness. I am sorry, for my dismal behavior towards you of late." 

She gave him a small smile, not sure how to react. Did she want to forgive? How would she have acted, had their roles been reversed. She didn’t know, not yet. Sensing her unease he leaned against the tree trunk, trying to appear relaxed. 

"How is it you can dream now, when you never could before?" 

"Who says I couldn’t dream before?" 

"Who says I couldn’t dream before?" He mimics as he crosses his arms, a playful little smirk on his face. Oh how she'd missed this side of him. "I seem to recall many late night conversations at your behest because you were, as you said, bored. If you had had the ability to dream here I believe you would have mentioned that at least once." 

She shrugged, scrunching her lips in a questioning almost smile. "I don’t know. I met a spirit, friend of yours I believe. Wisdom. It mentioned that I'm more here this time, that my connections are... firmer? I'm somehow connected here? I can't recall it's exact words." Something clouded his face, gone just as fast.  

"More connected? I-" Stopping mid thought, an agitated look crossed his face. "I must go, Loral, someone is trying to wake me. May I visit you again?" He was gone before she could do more than nodd. 


	8. Too Many Meetings

"So what's going on between you and Solas?" They were outside, in a small clearing to the right of the Chantry's entrance.  

 _'Your supposed to be concentrating on your lessons, not Solas.'_  

"Maybe I just want to know who my competition is." 

Loral was pretty sure her jaw just hit the floor. _'Your... competition? For what! You do realize I have no physical body here right?'_  

He went silent a moment, sulking from what she could tell. "Ok, you have a point. I still want to know what is up with you and Solas." 

 _'Nothing. We were friends, in another lifetime. Now we are, well.'_ Huh, what are they now? Not really friends so... _'Acquaintances._ _S_ _top talking out loud, please._ _If we're lucky these people who have me just think your looney and like to talk to yourself. A lot.'_  

He summoned a fireball to his hand, concentrating on making it change size. _'Ok, then answer this. You've never had a body here, and there is no magic where you live. So how is it you not only know how to do magic, but you actually can do it?'_  

 _'When last I lived here my... host, was very young, and a mage. I learned with her. I wasn’t able to do what I can now, the whole talking to you and doing magic thing. This is as new to me as it is you, sort of.'_  

She felt his lips purse as he considered her words before he grinned again. _'She was an elf too right? So you have a thing for elves?'_  

Give her a wall, and a head. They'd be meeting in the middle right now. _'I will go to my l_ _ittle fade space right now_ _if you don’t stop!'_  

He laughed, out loud, completely losing his hold on the little fireball which decided then and there to fly off into the distance... catching Solas's tunic on fire. Again. _'Wasn’t me this time!_ ' She yelled, hoping he could hear her. They'd only just started mending their relationship, having him think she was purposely lighting him on fire might ruin that. Wait, when did he get back? 

“Solas, dear, I think that man must like you.” 

“I assure you Master Pavus, the opposite is more the truth.” 

Dorian!? We were that far in the story already? Wait, if Dorian was here that means… come on brain, think. That means they were siding with the mages! Right? Must be, the only other time that you can recruit him was during the attack on Haven…. _‘Awww crap.’_  

Two heads turned in Moe's direction. “Where is the young lady I keep hearing?” Solas froze, eyes darting between Dorian and Moe. Welp, she always did want to talk to Dorian herself, this just wasn't how she’d pictured it. Would the boys get along, or would Dorian’s more pompous attitude and Moe’s laid back whateverness be too much of a difference for the two to overcome? Probably not. 

 The real problem would probably be Solas, if he tried to be included. The man had a possessive streak a mile long that had been tested to the extreme by Loral’s lack of a body, and now that he was for sure she really was, well, her, he’d been a nightly regular in her fade space. He and Moe clashed on a regular basis as Moe improved his latent sominari abilities. Solas didn't like how often the man would just pop in and interrupt them. Not that they were doing anything bad, mostly remembering the past and showing him her world. It was like grade school all over again, she couldn't figure it out half the time. 

Somehow the three men drifted closer, almost like they shared a silent conversation that even Loral couldn’t hear. "Who is she," was all Dorian said. Who is she, and suddenly the triumvirate of powerful mages shared a secret. 

"Is there a problem here?" Ah, Cullen. Yeah, that guy. 

She knew he was trying to redeem himself and be a good man, but his past actions in Kirkwall put him high on her 'Danger Will Robinson, Danger!' list.  He was also on her 'Scary as Fuck' list, but he wasn’t nearly as far up on that list as the elvhen 'gods': Solas was far closer to the top then Cullen. And anyone who knew Cullen's background knew he had the personality of a hound after a rabbit when it came to mages. As Moe was a mage, this concerned her. 

Add in his history at the Kinloch Hold Circle in Ferelden and you had an 'ex' templar with severe PTSD and a well earned fear of magic.  Yup, not someone she felt she could trust with this. He'd call Moe possessed and it would be 'off with his head!' The end of her time here and now; done, caput.  Or not,  but it was a huge risk. 

"No Commander, there is not. Have you met the Herald's newest recruit? This is Master Pavus, recently of Minrathous. He joined us in Redcliff, a conversation I am sure they need you in the War Room for." 

Cullen eyed the three men critically. "Welcome to the Inquisition, Master Pavus." He slowly drawled, eyes sliding over the man before returning to Moe. "Mahanon, if it is okay with you I would like to discuss a few things later. For now, I will go see what news the Herald brings from Redcliff." With a small bow of his head he left, speed walking around the corner to the Chantry.  

"Consider me intrigued. Who is she, and what is going on here?" Dorian kind of leaned back on one hip, arms crossed.  

 _'Do you want him to know?'_  

"You do realize 'he' can hear you right?" 

 _'If he can hear me than we have no choice but to tell him. Or I can stop talking.'_  

Solas glowered, clearly not liking that idea. _'Your silence is not an option.'_  

 _'Hate to say it but I agree with Solas on that one.'_  

"You can both do that?" 

 _'Hush, Dorian. And thank you for not squealing to the nearest templar about hearing voices coming from Moe.'_  

"I would never squeal, that is far to indignant of an act for me. And I have learned enough of our dear Solas here to trust his judgment on things such as this. Is your name really Moe?" 

 _"Thank you Dorian, and no, his name is Mahanon. If_ _you want to know what's going on I'm going to have to ask you two things. When you talk to me or about me you need to try to talk like this. Project your thoughts, like words. There is a very good reason why I ask this._ _And please please please- never say my name out loud.'_  

A few moments later he answered. _'Like this?'_  

 _'Yes! Your such a doll, thanks so much for going along with this!_ _Oh, third_ _thing- can you visit people in the fade?'_  

"Only if you fetch me." _'Sorry, this will take some getting used to.'_  

 _'Since you’re here that means we're siding with the mages right? Even Ellana has to acknowledge that not stopping Alexius and his time magic would be very bad for everyone, right?'_  

In the time it took her to realize what she'd just said the two men before her had expressed dismay at her knowledge of these events. _'Loralai, you have never mentioned having an informed awareness of events yet to pass.'_ Oh he'd used her full name, that couldn’t be good.  

 _'I think I hinted at it pretty hard that first day, about the demon.'_ His ears flushed slightly at the tips. Yeah, choke on that reminder, butthead. Petty? Yes. Did she care? Not really, no. Ok, maybe a little. 'Look, w _e_ _need to talk, all of us, about something very important coming up.'_  

 _'It amazes me your willing to include_ _Mr. Stash_ _here when you just met him.'_  

'Dorian _will be one of our best allies, I trust him, you should too.'_ A scout walked by, looking at them curiously. 

"I must go, fellow mages. I have a meeting to interrupt. I will bring news of what happens later, when we meet." _'In the fade, tonight?'_  

"It was great meeting you Dorian. Later sounds good. Oh! And you might want to avoid Madame De Fer, otherwise known as Madame Your All Wrong and Beneath Me. She sticks around the Chantry wings.” 

“Noted. Thank you, Mahanon.” 

Out of the corner of Moe’s eye Loral saw a hooded figure in the shadows, watching. The person turned, fading before she could see more of them. It was odd, she was fairly sure she’d seen that cloak before, but where…  her eyes wandered to what the person had dropped. Sucking in a breath she tried to search for the person again, but Moe moved his head. _'Moe, turn your head back!_ '  He jerked back, but the person was definitely gone. Damn. 

 _'Loral, is everything ok?'_  

She hummed. _'Pick up that compass please. Seems someone knew we would be in need of one soon.'_  

 _'You were saying last night you needed a compass... it seems someone granted that request,_ _ma'enlea.'_  

 _'Indeed, it does.'_ But who could have known she wanted one? Solas said last night he had long since lost his, and if it was from him he'd be only too happy to present it to her, or, well, Moe. And rub it in Moe's face. 

"I will be off, seems I am in need of a new tunic." Moe threw a half hearted sorry at Solas's retreating back, choking on his not so quiet snickers.  

 

 

Loral stood watching the sunset, her long strawberry blonde hair French braided (or is it Orlesian braided here?) down her back and her thin black tank top leaving the tattoos on her arms bare. She wore no make up, nor jewelry. It was a common look for her, at one time, and one she felt most comfortable in. Someone entered her space behind her. 

'I brought her, as requested." Ellana gasp as she saw Moe walk up to Loral, her eyes flitting about as she took in all the odd things in Loral's fade space. The house, the old rusted Volkswagen in the tall weeds, the single moon. Her mouth opened a few times but nothing came out. 

"I apologize for being late, ma'enlea, it took me awhile to locate him." Solas strolled into view, Dorian close behind him. 

"Ma'enlea? That means your light, right? You call a spirit your light?"  

"No, Herald. I call Loral my light, for that is what she is." Solas stood behind Loral, watching the others as they approached. "Herald, Dorian, this is Loral. She is no spirit, as you think her, but an older part of Moe's soul, here to learn." Ellana glared at her. 

"Don’t look at her like that, Ella, Loral is a good woman. She's been here since the day you stopped the breach, helping me, and in turn, you." 

"How?" 

"She is within me, all the time." 

"Your possessed!? I'll get Cullen, we'll fix this-" 

"Do you want to see me dead!" Moe stared in shock.  

"You will not tell Cullen a thing." Solas's voice was dead serious, cold. "She is no demon, that is about as far from the truth as the sun from the moons. If any harm should come to her by your hands, Ellana, consequences be damned, you will regret it."  

"I-I-." 

"I mean it Ellana, Loral is very important to me. Do not make me choose." 

Ellana glared at the ground. "Understood. I won't hurt the spirit." 

"I, for one, am please to meet you, Loral," Dorian took one of her hands and kissed it, smirking at the glares Moe and Solas leveled at him.  

She winked back. "And I you Dorian. I've been looking forward to meeting you for weeks." Summoning a set of couches she gestured around. "Sit, get comfy. I'm waiting for one more before I tell you why I've summoned you here, then we'll talk the serious stuff." Solas moved to sit, instead choosing to stand with his weight resting against one of the couch arms. 

Two green lights materialized, their forms shifting to that of a woman, and a young man. "I found the one you asked for da'len." 

"Mar on'ala, Wisdom. Ar ame serannas to ma." ( _Your amazing, Wisdom. I am grateful to you._ ) Ellana frowned at Loral's flawless use of Elvhen. "Cole, welcome." Wisdom bowed her head, fading back out after exchanging a few words with Solas. 

"You know me, you know where I was. Wisdom says you help. Tired, twisted memories, fear of failure. I will stay, I want to help too." 

"Thank you Cole. Everyone, this is Cole, a spirit of compassion that we will all be meeting in the real world fairly soon. Cole, I'm sure you know who everyone is already but for politeness sake, let us introduce ourselves. I am-“ 

“I know who you are. You are Loral, Mate of the Wolf.” Loral quirks a questioning brow at Solas, who, as expected, ignored it. “Many are the stories told of you; Curious will be most happy you’ve returned.” 

“I see. Well, I’m happy to hear Curious is still around, I’d feared it lost to the ages.” 

“And I know who you are, you are the- Solas, yes of course.” 

There was a pause before Moe spoke up. “I am Nughumper.” 

“Moe!” 

“What? I know he can read my mind, he knows my name.” 

“She calls you Moe? What kind of nickname is that?” 

“Better than the ones you call me, sister. Of course, worthless and idiot don't really count as nicknames, do they.” Venom dripped from his words. 

Ellana’s mouth dropped at Moe’s bluntness. His magic wasn't the only thing that had improved by leaps and bounds since Loral showed up, so had his self confidence and self worth. And attitude. 

“I am Ellana, also called the Herald.” Loral hummed in thought. Ellana sounded off, as if her brothers behavior towards her actually hurt her. Maybe this would open her eyes, possibly improve their familial relationship? 

“You may be right. Heal the pain by showing it. Not hiding anymore. Could work. Could also make it worse.” Loral nodded at Cole, agreeing. 

Dorian sat on one of the couches, one leg crossed over a knee. “Dorian Pavus. I’ve never met a spirit before, this is a new experience for me.” 

“Sit, I have some explaining to do. To start, why did I drag all your asses to my little fade space." 

"You prefer talking in person, face to face, contact. That's what you hated most about phones. What are phones?" 

“Ah, a conversation for another time, Cole. And yes, I find face to face easier, especially for this particular conversation.” 

She tapped her lips in thought, surprised when she felt Solas place a supportive hand on her back. "How close are we to recruiting the mages?” 

"How do you know about that?" 

"Just answer her, Ellana." Moe plopped down on one of  the couches, feet over the arm with his hands clasped behind his head. "She knows far more than you can imagine." 

Dorian was the one to answer, seeming perfectly at ease with the odd events occurring. "We leave tomorrow." 

"Thank you, dear. So tomorrow you leave for Redcliff, takes you a week to go there, do what you need to do, and come back. I'm guesstimating of course, all time is hypothetical. So a week, plus maybe another week for the mages to arrive here, in Haven.  Ok, two weeks it is. In two weeks, Ellana, you will take your little band of mages to the Breach and seal it, oh so nicely. It leaves a lovely little scar in the sky, by the way. A memory of mistakes that should never be repeated." She quirked a brow at Solas. 

"So we have two weeks before this job is done, then we all can go home, right?"  

"If only it was that easy Moe." 

"I arrive before they do, to warn, help. They follow, marching before the Elder One and his winged half." 

"What do you mean, before they do?" Everyone leaned forward, eyes glued on her.  

"Before I tell you I must demand one thing. What I tell you cannot be changed, it must come to pass. The only thing we can do is minimize the damage dealt to us, and our people.  If you cannot abide by this, you give me full permission to erase your memories of this night, and all you've learn here." 

"You can do that?" 

"Yes, Dorian. I can."  

Moe's gaze was steady, she knew he would be fine. Solas nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment.  Dorian looked ok, more curious than anything. It was Ellana that looked unsure.  

"I know my part, I accept." 

"Thank you, Cole. We will see you at the front gates then. Stay safe." 

"You are kind, Loral. I see why he calls you his light." His form faded, gone for the time being.  

"I grant you permission, fair lady. On top of that, I will tell no one of your existence, you are no threat to us." She smiled, a full smile that reached her eyes.  

"Thank you, Dorian. I accept your counter offer." Moe chuckled, eyeing Dorian with a peculiar gleam in his eyes. Huh, how bout that. Ellana, however, still hadn't answered. 

"Elana ar'an ema eru ash?"( _Are you sure we can trust her?_ ) Ellana's brow dropped at Solas's words, confusion on her face. So she knew some Elvhen, but not much. 

Loral sighed in defeat. "Vin, ar'an nadas... _(Yes, we must._ _)_ The night you seal the Breach, there will be a celebration in Haven. The people will be merry, drinking and dancing in the streets. Please post extra soldiers in the northern part of Haven, Ellana. The elves in that area will be sorely mistreated by the drunks if no one watches over them. They are your people, protect them." Ellana's eyes widen, the implications hitting her hard. 

"A horn sounds, pounding on the front gate. Cole will be there, to warn you. The templars have arrived. Cullen will know the man who leads him, they have a history. That's also the night you first meet the Elder One in person. The fight will be hard, but _you_ all make it out alive. The entire inner circle, advisors, clerics, you make it. But I'm not worried about you, I'm worried about the unknowns- the villagers." 

"Then we must evacuate before he arrives! If no one is there he will harm none!" Solas stood behind Loral again, startling her when he rested a supportive hand on the small of her back. Throwing him a thankful look she turned to answer Ellana's argument. 

"Where would you go? The woods? No, that would be far worse than if he attacks Haven.  You will deal him a huge blow at Haven, force him to retreat. If you flee beforehand that may not happen. He could catch you as you travel, unable to better defend against their forces. Red Templars are a force you have never dealt with before, Ellana. This is no easy fight. The absolute best route to take is preparation. Chancellor what's his face knows of a way out of the back of Haven, it needs to be cleared out before the fight. If we can stock it with supplies, that will help on our journey to our new home.  Same for an old mining tunnel by the forward trebuchet." 

"What about the villagers? If the Herald tell's them of the attack they'll panic." 

"Yes, true. I, personally, wouldn't tell them. Maybe spread a new rule that they must keep their stuff in a easy to grab pack. Practice emergency evacuation drills- or atleast post where everyone should gather. Water down the ale that night, just as a precaution. I don’t know really, that's why you’re here. But don’t outright warn them, your right about the panic. And panicked people don’t think with their heads." Without thinking she leaned back into Solas, taking comfort as his arm wrapped around her.  "Oh," she perked with a thought. "Make sure to get those pots out of Adan's cabin. I don’t know what he stores in them but they are highly flammable." 

"That's all? That's your brilliant plan to save Haven?" 

"Haven can't be saved, Ellana." 

Her mouth hung open, finally grasping what Loral was saying.  

"Not everything is preventable. Sometimes no matter what path we take certain events will happen one way or another, all we can do is try to minimize the damage. This is me, helping you choose a path I have seen that will save the most lives. Haven is not our goal, Ellana. The people are. _All_ the people." 

Something shifted in Ellana's eyes, a keen understanding and acceptance of everything Loral was implying. "Yes," her back straightened with purpose. "We must save the people. _All_ the people." 

 

 


	9. Strange Happenings

Some days later, after receiving word that the Herald and team were on their way back to Haven, Loral and Moe were sitting in Loral’s fade space talking when Moe’s body suddenly vanishes, the look of alarm on his face propelling Loral to follow. Before they fully connect she could already feel the hand grasping his shirt as it pulls the man violently from his bed.  
“The Commanders not going to like this when he finds out.” The voice grumbled through the dark room, to far away to be the one who’d grabbed Moe.  
“Who said we’s gunna be found out, eh? Dun matter none no how, we’ll be long gone by the time they find out.”  
“We’ve got our orders, now grab the abomination and let's get out of here.” The third voice was female, cold as the night outside.   
Something was definitely wrong here, Moe was nearly incoherent and bonelessly flailed around trying to get away. A surge of something hit them, the cold shard like feeling draining what little movement Moe could muster. His eyes were rolling around in his head, making Loral dizzy as one of the men threw his body over their shoulder and jogged away from the village. Loral had never been so happy to see snow in her life- fresh snow meant fresh footprints to follow.   
‘ _Help!’_ She yelled repeatedly. _‘Anyone?! Please help us!’_  
The woman snatched Moe’s head up to gaze into his eyes, a frown crossing her face. “It's trying to call for help, we must move faster!”  
“I don't understand, if he’s possessed, why don't we just kill him now? I mean, the mans not light.”  
“Orders.” The woman dropped Moe’s head, his nose hitting the metal covered back under him hard.   
No, oh hell fucking to the never ever no. This was not happening to her again, she was not loosing another one. Anger boiled through her, her mana building within her as she sought for a way to free Moe. She couldn't see, could only hear. She needed eyes.   
There was howling to the left, and without thinking Loral shot her mana out to the creature, begging it to help her. Be my eyes, she pleaded. Feeling the creatures acceptance she pressed some mana into it, just enough to be able to see what it saw as it moved closer.   
“He shouldn't have any mana left, how did he do that!” Man two yelled. The wolf snuck closer, confirming Loral’s suspicion that he was the one holding Moe.   
“It’s the creature within him, we need to move faster.” Through the wolfs eyes Loral watched the cold voiced woman in knight enchanter armor place a hand on both men, then vanish.   
Cocking it's head to the side the intelligent creature studied the mana trail it could now see thanks to its connection to Loral. It was odd, but Loral would almost swear it nodded before lifting its head and howling, answering howls echoing in the night as it followed the trail.  
As for Loral, the world spun as man two dropped Moe to the ground, the sounds of him stumbling off and retching filling the quiet. Mana built inside her again, a spell on her lips when she felt a blinding pain in Moe’s lower leg. “Try something again, creature, and I’ll break the other one.”   
Ignoring her Loral redirected her mana inward, allowing it to cycle through Moe’s body and partly numb the pain from where the woman hand snapped Moe’s ankle. She didn't want to heal it until she assessed exactly how it was broken.  
She could feel the woman get close again and pulled up a barrier, lining the outer edges with lightning which zapped the woman as her foot connected with it instead of Moe’s leg as she’d intended, throwing her several feet back.  
“Blind him, plug his ears,” she yelled as she detangled herself from a nettle bush. Loral lost all sense of what was happening as that cold feeling hit them again, Moe’s body seizing as the repeated hits took their toll on him.   
‘ _Moe! Moe, honey, stick with me, I’m here. I’ll figure out how to get us out of this.’_ A faint flicker of his consciousness brushing hers reassured her he was still with her. Checking on the wolf she found it sniffing carefully around the area it was in, wary of the huffing grunt of a black bear. _‘Are you far, ma’falon?’_  
“It's talking to someone again! Get up you oaf, we must get moving!”  
The wolf looked up, the faint sound of the woman's yell in the distance. To be that faint by wolf hearing meant close, but still maybe half a mile off. Loral watched as the wolf’s gaze snapped back over to the bear, head tilting to the side in consideration. What was it thinking?  
The wolf growled, leaping forward to snip at the bears hind leg before quickly jumping back, yapping at it before doing it again when the bear dismissed it. Finally fully pulling the bears attention from its snack, the wolf kept teasing it, the bear giving chase when it had enough.  
Seconds later man one perked up beside her, while she couldn't hear him over the magic they placed on Moe to quiet his senses, she could tell by his body language that something was up.   
Through the wolf's eyes she could see the two Templar clad men come into view, one having a heated argument with the woman while the other sat beside Moe. Three sets of eyes swung to the wolf at once, all going wide as they see it, and what was chasing it.  
Man two drew his sword and swung at the bear, the wolf's eyes narrowing in on Moe’s prone body before Loral could see much more of the fight. Latching on to the back of Moe’s tunic it began to drag him off, but the woman prevented it from getting far. Flashes of the wolf flying off and hitting a tree played through Loral’s connection to it, the woman standing possessively over Moe. Her mouth moved as she yelled something, the wolf barely avoiding the fireball she threw at him. In the distance the bear overpowered man one, tossing his body to the side as it zeroed it's beady black eyes on the woman.   
The wolf jumped back as a teal cloaked figure dropped out of the trees, landing like an assassin doing a leap of faith before lunging up, the duel daggers in their hands glowing like mana blades in the rising sunlight as the person brandished them at the bear.   
Loral's frustration reached new heights as the wolf swung it's eyes back to the woman standing over Moe, anger boiling within her as the helplessness of her situation threatened to overcome her. _'I will,_ ' she screamed as she beat at her invisible prison. _'Not let this happen!'_  
Something cracked within her as she watched the woman place her arms around Moe's body, and vanish. A ripping feeling, some connection within her tearing apart as her senses returned to her.   
"What the hell is going on!"   
A wolf howled in the distance, the call grounding Loral to her surroundings as she opened her eyes. Her eyes?! Glancing down she saw Moe on the ground, his eyes twitching, body still immobile. The woman, the mage who'd tried to take him, stood in shock as Loral swung a glowing fist at her face. And tripped. Apparently her body was more ethereal, nearly spirit like in nature, and was absolutely nothing like her normal body. So when she'd swung her fist she'd used too much force. And… tripped.   
Still gaping like a fish out of water the woman quickly worked a lyrium bottle out of her belt and popping the top off, swallowed it as she placed a hand on Moe. Loral screamed in frustration as yet again the fade hopping harpy disappeared, the wolf's answering howl alerting her to two things. One: A group of people were quickly following after the woman and Moe. And two: Loral could understand wolf talk. _'They come,'_ the she wolf cried. _'They come to help you!'_  
Concentrating hard on the wolf Loral tried to see through it's eyes, but instead found herself standing next to it. Along with Ellana, Bull, Dorian, Solas…   
“Maker, what is that!” And Cullen. With his nice lovely sword pointed at her heart as he shielded Ellana from view.  
“Loral!?” Three voices simultaneously called her name.   
“What's a Loral?” Bull eyed her intently, hands on his axe.  
“She's a who, Bull, not a what.”  
“It must be a demon, but it is unlike any demon I’ve seen before.”  
“Knock it off, Cullen, she's on our side. Loral, where is my brother?” She shoved Cullen's shoulder, pushing him aside and nearly colliding with Loral in her effort to get closer.   
“He’s alive, but in bad shape.” Seeing the bodies of the templars on the ground she threw an angry hand in their direction. “Those assholes wouldn't stop smiting him in their effort to get to me.”  
“Get to you? How- were you inside him? Herald, was your brother-“  
“Now is not the time Commander, we must find Mahanon before the situation becomes more dire.”  
“Agreed, Solas. Loral, who has him?”  
“A fade hopping knight enchanter. She’s just fetching him though, I don't know-“ Sucking in a deep breath, eyes wide in shock, Loral gasped as an intense sharp pain stabbed her heart. Solas’s lips moved but it took a moment for the ringing in her ears to quiet enough for her to realize he was frantically calling her name. “I’m fine!” The words were louder then she intended, making her wince.   
“That did not look fine to me, vhenan! Let me check you-.”  
“No time Solas, we must leave now!” She grabbed his left hand and Dorian’s right, pulling them closer. “Everyone grab someone, this way is faster.” As she readied her spell she noticed Solas grab the wolf with his other hand, the one she held curling tighter as he linked their fingers. Concentrating on Moe she willed herself back to him, the group traveling farther than a fade step to an old derelict temple deep in an overgrown forest.   
“Boss, just imagine how fast we’d get things done if we had her to take us places.”   
“I think the Commander disagrees.” Dorian remarks dryly as he watches Cullen’s pale face take a few deep breaths.   
“He’s in here,” Loral dispels the barrier surrounding the entrance with a wave of her hand, another wave of weakness hitting her. “We must hurry, he’s getting weaker!”  
As the others hurried out of sight she finally gave in, knees collapsing as she caught herself with her hands. Vaguely she noted how clear her hands had become, the rocks perfectly visible under them.   
“Loral!” Hearing Solas call to her she picked herself up, determined to save Mahanon at all costs. “Vhenan,” he tried to grab her arm when she got closer but his hand went through it. “Your…fading. How did you do it? How did you cross to this existence?”  
She avoided his gaze, determined to keep all expression from her face. “I broke something.”  
Just then the enemies welcoming party showed up, the fighting stopping her from having to answer the other question in his eyes. What exactly did she break? She wasn't sure, but if the waves of pain were any indication it wasn't something good.  
Room by room they systematically killed the attacking group of mages, templars and rogues, none of the bodies giving any clues as to who was behind this. Finally they reached the courtyard; in the middle of which stood the body of what should have been the knight enchanter.  
“You!” Loral felt the magic flowing within the woman's body, recognized it from another.   
“Loral, what.” Solas cut himself off, head swinging to stare wide eyed at the knight enchanter. “This is not possible.”   
“Where is my brother!” Ellana made to move closer but Loral stepped in front of her.   
“Go check the other rooms, Solas and I will deal with this woman. Don't come back here, we will find you.” She pushed her will behind her words, Ellana turning and commanding the others to follow without another word.   
“I see I don't have much time left.” The body snatcher eyed her, humming in thought. “You grow much stronger and you will be impossible to control.”   
“She will never again be yours, Elgar’nan! ”  
“And who's going to stop me, you? You are no stronger than a mortal now!” He laughed darkly. “It's refreshing to know we weren't the only ones affected so by your little veil.”   
“That may be true, but at least I am on this side of it, whereas you have resorted to using puppets.”  
Eye's flashing silver, Loral watched as Solas fell to his knees at Elgar'nan's glare. "You have no idea what I am capable of, Fen, even from here. I could kill you, weak as you are, and be welcomed as a hero to our ignorant little elven shems."   
He hummed in thought, eyes still holding Solas immobile as he slowly walked around him in his knight enchanter outfit. “You’ve actually done us a favor, shortening their lives. With so few immortals still walking the land, there are but only a handful left to remember who we are, and only three of those who care about the truth.”  
“Lord Elgar’nan,” Loral simpered in a sickly sweet voice. She stepped closer to him, acutely aware that he actually backed away from her, a small twinge of fear barely flashing in his eyes before he hid it. So she moved even closer, forcing him back another step and breaking his concentration from Solas, who rose as if to block her from him. “I see you chose your body well. Your still such a fucking pussy, bragging about your lies like a little bitch while you whine about everything.” She stood right in front of him, barely noting how comical his squinting from the sun shining in his face looks.   
A ghost like shadow of Elgar’nan’s form superimposed itself over the knight enchanters, the two acting as one as Elgar’nan grabbed Loral’s throat, holding her up so her feet didn't touch the ground. A growl behind her ended in a whimper, while Solas was again forced to his knees.   
“Well this scene seems familiar,” he mused to himself. “Except you had another's body. I had hoped to force you out, then.” Loral slowly moved her hand away from his wrist, testing if her body could still breathe.   
“How did you even know I was there? And why the fuck did you care, I could barely do anything then.”  
The man/woman simply grinned at her. “You would have been mine, had I found you first. Your mate,” he spate the word. “Would never have found you and I would have possessed the power of a Creator, even weak as you were then.”  
Loral's hand stilled in its slow search for her dagger. Had he not been holding her throat she would have scuffed, or laughed. Her, a creator?   
Suddenly her body seized again, this time worse then all the others. “As you grow stronger here your other half dies. The connection thins and cannot sustain itself any longer.” His eyes looked gleeful as her body twitched, Solas crying her name in the distance. His hands seemed to become firmer, the grip around her neck solidify and cutting off her breath.   
“Unhand her!” Cullen’s voice roared viciously through the room, a powerful smite freezing her veins and making Elgar’nan loose control of his host, her body dropping to the floor. He ran to her, apparently forgetting his distrust and, laying a hand on her head, frowned in concern when it came back covered in blood. Vaguely she could hear Solas struggling to get to her, cursing in Elvhen when his body refused to cooperate.   
“Makers breath, what happened in here?” She broke something, she kept thinking when she started coughing. “Cullen,” she wiped the spittle she'd coughed up off her lips, unaware of the red streak left behind. “Thank you.”  
Come on body, fade back to Mahanon, go back, please. Oh creators, why did it hurt so?  
Another face, a beloved one, pulled itself into her limited sight. “Solas,” she whimpered as another spasm shook her body. “Ma ghilana mir din'an, ma lath. Send me back.” (Send me into death, my love.)  
“You cannot ask this if me, vhenan.”  
“Something is broken, Solas. Send me back, before it's permanent.”  
“Ma nuvenin.” (As you wish.)   
“Is there anything I can do to help?”  
As Solas’s eyes closed in pain she huffed a pained laugh. “Yeah, forgive yourself. Stop living in the past and embrace the future- both of you. And please, Cullen. Stay off the lyruim, or it will kill you.”   
“That's not what I meant.”  
“I know.”  
Solas was chanting in elvhen under his breath, her connection to Mahanon growing stronger with each word. “Oh, creators no! Mahanon, in the room to the left- hurry!”   
Both men watched as she faded from sight, then as one ran to the room she’d mentioned. In the middle lay Mahanon, a thick pool of blood on the floor beneath him.

 


	10. Insert Cuss Word Here-Holy !@?#!

Solas leaned over them, the face barely seeable in the fog covering their eyes, shouting for help to someone behind him. "Over here. Ellana, we found him! Mahanon! Can you hear me? Loral, ma'lath. Ane ma tamahn?" _(Are you there?)_  

The headpiece was heavy, Loral couldn’t catch her breath. Can't breath, she tried to gasp as her body seized, body bucking and twisting so hard she would have fallen if not for the straps. "Get a medic in here ASAP!" James yelled as he vaulted over the counter. Grabbing her head he held in firmly to the side as he inserted his id tag between her teeth. Just as the shaking slowed the Altus made a weird grinding sound, then stopped, Jame's shouts fading to nothing.  

"What happened! Moe! Mahanon, please, brother, wake up!"  

"The Atlas is down sir, the power has been cut with Miss Black still under... No sir, she's not responding... Sir, she's not responding- at all. Her breath is erratic and her heart rate is off the charts. Pupils dilated... yes sir. She acts like she's still in transition but she's not coming out of it... No sir, I can't find a reason. Tech is on it's way... Are you sure? Yes sir, I'll keep trying." A phone fell into it's cradle. "Come on Loral, don’t give up on me girl. We'll get you out, we'll figure this out." 

Blackness, nothing. No sound, no light, no feeling. Then a dull light started, growing stronger along with chanting. Chanting? 

The images before her eyes slowly came into focus, revealing veil fire flickering from the torches on the walls, dancing shadows on the stone roof above her.  She could hear chanting in ancient elvhen, the ambient noise flowing over her body like a warm blanket.   

"I don't know if it's working," a deep voice mumbles. "But she's waking up."  

"Bring me closer Abelas, I need to see her eyes." The voice was soft, tired.    

Her body refused to move, the smallest tilt of her head taking all her effort.  A tall elf approached her,  carrying another hooded elf, his eyes nearly glowing in the flickering blue light. ' _Solas'_. The name softly echoed in the room, even though she knew she didn’t say it out loud.   

"It is her Abelas, put me down." He indicated to the other man where he wanted to be put, who, after laying him down, stepped back towards the far wall. Gently cupping her head and angling it so she could see him better, Solas smiled softly. His face is different, long scars flowing across his cheeks and over his lips. The cloak covered his body but she saw a hint of a torn ear, the jagged scar running back beneath his hood.  She wasn’t sure but from his grip he may have been missing a finger. "Ma vhenan, we finally found you."  

 _'Found_ _...me_ _?_ Was I missing? _Why can't I move?_ _'_ She couldn’t even frown as she asked. 'Why..'  

"Shhh, full of questions like always." His chuckle is strained as he slowly traced her face. "Your eyes, always the same, no matter what face they hide in."  He ponders a moment.   

"We no longer live in the Dragon Age, Loral, but the Dread Age."  

 _'Wha..'_   

A hand covered her lips, ancient eyes patiently waiting. Even though they weren't moving the simple act still stopped her from asking more.   

"Much has changed these last years, much.. has been lost. I don’t have time to tell you everything but you must know this." Taking a deep breath he moved closer. " Ir abelas, ma vhenan, for all my years I never saw what you saw when we spoke of dropping the veil.  And you were right.  Not right away, for a time it worked, the elven became stronger, brighter. Everything you and Ellana started on equal rights continued and bore fruit.  The Free Age was a wonderful time, a time of joy and prosperity for our people. " His eyes flicked to the side, then back.  

"Andruil was the first to awaken."  

 _'No.'_   

"Yes, and to say she was mad is too mild a description. She freed most of the other Evanuris, and they came for me. These," he gestured to his face.  "Are a gift from them, the first of many before I was freed."  

He was quiet a moment. "The Evenuris have gone mad, ma vhenan. What they have done to me is paltry compared to what they have done to others.  Our world is almost dead now. Qunari are believed extinct, the humans and dwarves locked themselves deep in the mountains.  And the elves," he sighed. "or what is left of them, are once again slaves."  

She wanted to comfort him but she couldn’t move her arms.  

"I found a way to track your soul path, vhenan, much like your keepers.  But we had spies in our mist and they told the others of you before we could stop them. Elgar'nan had you before we freed you, again trying to learn the secrets of your soul traveling, using any means he thought necessary." Solas turned away, a slight sheen in his eyes as he took another deep breath. "It is hard to talk to you knowing this body your in is dying," he turned back with a small smile. "But I know I will see you again. I used the last of my strength to summon you here, to this body, to warn you." 

"After Mahanon's death I withdrew upon myself and refused to listen to anyone. Once I lost you I lost myself, and that was our downfall. Your plan, about the secondary veil? It would have worked, I am sure of it."   

The ground shook, dirt falling from the stone ceiling above them.   

"Fenedhis lasa, we've run out of time." The chanting in the background became quieter, the voices stopping one by one. In a panic Solas pulled himself over her, laying nearly nose to nose.    "Whatever you do, DO NOT LET ME FREE THE EVENURIS! Only you can help me see the way, ma'enlea- ONLY YOU!"   

The door blew in, a bright flash soon followed by Abelas's grunt of pain.  

"Ar lath ma, Loral, ma vhenan, ma sal." His lips cover hers, pushing something into her just as a sword flashes above them, a soft cry escaping them both as it plunged down and darkness takes over. 

 

 

 

"Loralai? Ma lath, please, wake up." The voice was wrong, deeper, rougher. Callused fingers cupped her unscared cheek. "That's it, open your eyes." Familiar blue eyes greeted her, a grin hidden behind the man's thick auburn beard. Beard? The man Nevalia had pointed out, the one that was always watching her- was Solas? 

"Welcome back Miss Black, you had us worried for a moment there." James's voice floats from the side, almost tempting her to look away from the man in front of her. "Mr. Bryant here was able to get the Atlas up and running again so we could pull you out. How do you feel?"  

Besides confused? She wasn’t sure. She had just experienced her's and Solas's death, as Mr. Bryant was proof of. "Call me Ryan," the man in question said. "I am happy we got you out unharmed. Can you sit up?" 

“You better get going Ryan, you know we have orders to keep you two apart.” James winked. “Don't want to break the rules now do we.” 

“Of course not. It is a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Loralai. May I visit you later, if I can find a way?” 

Uh, duh. “Room 123,” was all she got out before he left, rounding the back door just as the medic finally entered through the front. 

Loral tried to sit up, James catching her when she failed. Her body felt like jelly, soft and useless, completely drained. After a full check up the woman recommended bed rest, and at least a week out of the Atlas. Normally that would have distressed Loral, but Ryan, aka Solas, threw a wrench in what was normal. And what was up with James? He had made it very clear in the beginning that he had no desire to do anything to endanger his job, so why break the rules about Solas- er, Ryan? 

More importantly, what to do about Solas... the one in Thedas. And the knowledge he had just given her. She needed a nap, a real one. Her brain was skipping from one subject to the next at the speed of light and nothing was adding up. 

With the help of the medic and a small sedative she was back in her room in no time sleeping. Real sleeping, no demons or fade or anything- just black time warping emptiness.  

The thing about sedatives is sometimes when you wake up your not really mentally 'awake' yet. So when she woke up with a strange bearded man in her room she didn’t think anything of it. She just sat up, stretching out her arms around a yawn and stared at him, uncomprehending. Then she remembered. It was real. All of it. 

"Solas..."  

"Vhenan." 

Hastily throwing back her blankets she ran to him, arms wrapping around him, his arms hugging her back just as tight. It really was him, every part of her heart and soul screamed. He felt so right in her arms. She was holding Solas- as herself.  Did he know? 

Leaning back just enough to see his face she asked, "How much do you remember?" 

"There are very few blanks in my memory, most of which occur after Mahanon died. I think I... the me then, realized I was watching, and purposely hid those parts from me. Which is good," his hand caressed her face as he talked. "There is much the Altus Program does not need to know." 

She closed her eyes as his thumb slide across her eyebrow. "Your eyes, always the same, no matter what face they hide in." Her heart stuttered at his familiar words, the faint tremor in his voice doing nothing to hide his inner turmoil. "I have craved the ability to do this for millenia, and now that I can, I find myself at a loss. I am not the me you knew anymore..." 

"You know, I barely thought about what it must have been like for you, watching every new face to see if I was there. Never knowing what form I would come back in, or if I would come back at all." She laughed. "I imagine Moe was a bit of a shock." 

He grinned. "That did throw me for a bit. Then I tried to convince myself you were a demon instead- it seemed easier than knowing you were in a body I could not get close to. But your ability to enter the fade, that saved me from further stupidity. Just so you know- no, they don't know about anything that happened in the fade. Their instruments see it as a blank time, which is typical of what happens when your host sleeps." 

"What should I call you here? I know your name is Ryan... but you are my Solas... ma vhenan" He leaned his forehead against hers, releasing a small sigh.  

"As you are mine. Mala I bellanaris. Call me Solas, it is my name after all." She wanted to kiss him, to pull him close and never let go again. But the beard reminded her this was not entirely her Solas, that she would have to go back and face that one. Could she act the same, knowing she had this one? What a strange line of thought. Is it cheating, if it's the same soul, and he remembers most of their time together? Ah, screw it. 

Her mouth collided with his, his answering growl ending all her doubts. He kissed the same, held her the same- although slamming her into the wall as he ravished her mouth was a new one. Tears streamed down her cheeks with the power of her emotions. "You died," she whispered when he pulled back to investigate. "I was there, when you were killed. Helpless." Her hands cupped his cheeks. "You died and now you’re here, with me." 

"You saw my death? He hid that from me. How... how did I die?" His frown deepened. "How were you there?" The way he spoke, as if he was the same person yet different, saddened her. At least when she went back she had several lives to go to, different people to learn. He only had one, one very prominent one too. To be forced to live the last thousands of years as Solas, a 'God', then return here as Ryan... It was much like when she lived as Miol. Separating yourself from that other life got harder and harder as time went on. He knew he was Ryan, but he was Solas. But how much of a difference would Ryan's life make on Solas's morals? Could he be trusted with the truth? A truth that Solas had imparted on her with his last breath. 

"You died... because you freed the Evanuris." 

"Shit. Not good, not at all. That means my suspicions were correct, he did lower the veil. But we talked, for months, about how that wouldn’t work without trapping the Evanuris in a secondary veil first. Why didn't he listen..." His eyes drop to her. "Oh... Mahanon's death. You left again, in his mind for good. He really, really didn’t handle it well.... How much did he block from me, that I know none of this?" 

"Hundreds of years..."  

His eyes widened. "He hid that much from me? But how... My last memory was about a month after Adamant... I kind of filled in the blanks after that from the flashes of memory I get. Made it hard to finish the book." 

"Wait, you wrote the Dragon Age story?" 

"Mm, yeah. I started to remember, long before the Altus was complete. I wrote it all down and made a story out of it, submitted it to a publishing company hoping to get it printed. That's how the Director found me. They rounded me up, brought me here. And through some small print I swear wasn’t there before, I'm stuck. I heard they made a game of it, is that true?" 

"Yeah... that's how I 'knew' the future, as Moe. Through the game." He laughed at that. 

"Makes sense. But I have to be honest, I made up the end about the orb breaking." 

"You mean it didn’t break?" 

"I mean I don’t know. That's why they were so excited when you first showed up, they were hoping you were the Inquisitor and might know what happened after that point. I had hinted, through my sessions, of having a beloved. I imagine they were quite upset when they learned you were the brother instead. The Director wants the orb, Loral. Why, I don’t really know, but that's his goal." 

"But it's on another planet, what does he plan on doing once he knows?" 

"Not planet, Loral. Dimension. And he has a way to get across, or so rumor says. If he brought that back here, and the magic worked still, imagine the chaos he would cause. Or even there, I have no idea. If the Evanuris are free, and alive, does Thedas even exist still? Is there anything left to rule over? The possibilities... have you not pieced his name together yet, who he really is?" 

"Sethius Amladaris, right?" He nodded. "Isn't that the name of some old Magister... oh crap- Corypheus!? Almadaris is Corypheus?!" 

"Was, he really did die in the end. How he's here with the same name, I'm unsure. It might be he took it on purpose. I've tried to check but my contacts can't find anything- at all- on him. Which leads me to my other theory. We sent him here, instead of killing him, in the end. He possessed a new body, lived until now trying to find a way back. Although, if he has magic, he's shown no signs of it, which might just mean the orb wouldn’t work here. Hopefully." A small red light on his watch flashed. "Someone's coming, I have to go." Dropping a quick kiss on her lips he ran to the large vent in the middle of her room. How did she not notice it was open? Pulling himself up he shut it behind himself, blowing her a kiss just as someone knocked on the door.  

 

 

 


	11. Tunnel Vision

 

“I promise I’ll return to you.” 

“Loral, its only an 8 hour session, of course you’ll return.. to… Loral. Are you planning something?” 

“Me? Never…” Her watery grin gives away her lie. “Ryan, we’ve been talking about stopping you- Solas, all week. I’m going to try. And if it works… I’ll never see you again, because you won't die in that future I saw. I'm hoping, lame, since I don't even know if I'll make it where I'm going to try to go. But I'm hoping to create a different future, where Solas lives.” 

“You do realize if Solas lives I never exist and none of this is likely to have happened, right?”  

“Ah, yeah. You know, maybe it's all a paradox, or something. Different timelines. Either way- I love you, Ryan.” Leaning over she kissed his cheek. “I'll see you tonight.” 

His eyes dart over her face, concern on his face. “I love you too, Loral. With all my heart and soul.” 

They part ways, Loral leaving to catch her ride down the elevator to the rooms that housed the Altus. As James reves up the machine she pulls on the knowledge that Solas had passed to her with his dying breath. It would work. She could control this, this time.  

 

Her vision tunneled, a dark electric filled whirlwind of power engulfing her mind as her eyes squeezed shut. What was this? A stray pulse of electricity zapped her body, her lungs on fire as she struggled to breath. Wait, she didn't need to breath here, this wasn't real. It couldn't be, or it would have happened before… right? Up ahead she saw a path in the wind tunnel, memories of an old woman with a young elf like creature laughing flickered around her. “Grandmae, tell me the story of man beyond the light,” the young one squealed in a language Loral had never heard before, but knew. Still her body tumbled on, past the path to that lifetime. Another life, the Roman woman Loral had shared a sliver of her life that first time in the Altus. Then the elven woman Solas had died with. A child in a glass city by the sea. Mahanon! That was her destination! But, why was she still going forward? No matter how she tried her body would not stray from its forward path, her fall through this odd existence moving fast as she plummeted down, down…. Miolu’vun? There was a block, Miol’s memories on one side of the tunnel, memories Loral knew well. And on the other, was a sleeping body, forgotten to the passage of time.  

Still she fell, the net like block on the end not stopping her decent as she faced one last life, her true first life. She had no body there, but she was not alone. Spirit like wisps of several shapes and sizes looked upon the world of Thedas, all curious as to where they were. Loral watched as the beings shaped elves from the land, imitating the primitive creatures from a dying world they had visited. Seeing them the spirit yearned to experience life again, as it had a millenia before. So it made a decision. Splitting it's soul in half it willed it's selves forward, half for a male, half for a female. Just as the female half settled in it's new body a black wolf lunged out of the forest and killed it, shaking it's lifeless body like a rag doll. Only half in it's new form the male soul snapped its arms around the wolf, pulling both into its newly formed body. And Fen'Harel was born. His head thrown back as he howled in agony was the last thing she saw before Loral was thrown back up the tunnel, into the sleeping form of Miolu'vun body. 

Suddenly she remembered that last day with Miol, those moments when she alone had inhabited her body. The body… was immortal! It had been laying in eternal slumber this whole time. That was where she settled, Miol’s body and Loral’s soul combining in what she knew on impact was a permanent union. Her connection to her earthy body ended as soon as she melded with Miol's, that small connection that had always sat at the back of her mind gone. The other connection, the one Wisdom had mentioned- was this! Solas and Mythal had linked her current self to this body, that was the last spell they had done. 

Even if Loral could move in those first few moments she didn't. Expanding her consciousness she assessed her situation first, realizing that her body was covered by a thick sheet like item, with just enough room around her head to breathe. Heavy items lay scattered over the top, pulling the fabric tight. But that wasn’t what stopped her. The memory, the life before Miol, scattered her wits, pulling her mind in every direction as she digested the implications behind it. Solas and her, they were soul mates. Two halves of one whole. She knew how Fen'Harel had been born now, how all the 'creators’ had been born. And she had been one of them. Elgar’nan had been right, but… how had he known? 

Struggling for breath she finally tried to move, the heavy objects thankfully not weighing down her arms so she could pull the cloth off. The room she lay in was mostly dark, sunlight streaming through small cracks on one side, illuminating what must have been a tomb. Time had not been kind to it, half the room was caved in- that's what had been weighing her down. Thankfully she had been blessed that none had landed on her; or if they had she had somehow healed over time. By the time she eased her body out from under the cloth the clothes she had been laid to rest in were torn, the fabric too old to withstand the pulling and tugging it took to free herself. Standing, she gazed about the room trying to figure out how she would get out. There was a small seam on one side, thankfully not blocked, that she took for the door. Thinking fast she used a mind blast to blow it out, the path before her leading her out to a courtyard like enclosure of what she recognized was once Fen'Harel's temple. Which were now little more than ruins. 

It saddened her, knowing how misunderstood Sola's was. How the people who should be thanking him for trying to save them instead hated him with a passion, choosing to worship those who had enslaved them, then tried to kill them off. Well, Mythal was a good one, the only good one they worshipped, but they didn’t know that. 

Sensing a ward to the side Loral stumbled to a solid wall, but when she placed her hand on it, it went through. A secret room then. Inside she lit the brazer with veilfire, magic curling about her body like a lover. She could feel it, the power far stronger than anything she had ever sensed in Miol or Mahanon. She knew this was only possible because of her first life, that missing piece of her soul had reconnected when Loral had passed through, granting her the power she would have had if she had lived. Deteriorating books lined the walls, long lost to the ravages of time, a lone chest shitting in the corner. Opening it she gasp. Flashes of a cloaked person leaving a compass, following her in a crowd, saving her from a bear, flowed through her mind. All this time, she thought as she pulled the teal cloak from the chest. All this time it had been her. 

Stumbling back she fell into a chair, sinking deep. She had been here the whole time, in what is now her own body, helping. So did that mean the future where Solas releases the Evanuris is inevitable? With a groan she grabbed her head. Were there alternate timelines and that future was just one possibility? And more importantly- how did she convince Solas to keep his word and not drop the deteriorating veil until the gods were well secured? Huh… and what timeline had Solas pulled her into to warn her of the veil drop? Her brain ran every way imaginable, thoughts flying  all over before finally settling on her bodies need for rest. It hadn't moved in thousands of years, after all. Leaning back she rested her head on the wall, allowing sleep to overcome her. 

 

 

“Ah, ma falon. It is good to see you again.”  

“Wisdom, you know it's me?” 

“Of course, Loral. Mythal knew the day would finally come that you would return to this body.” Wisdoms wispy form changed to its more elvhen shape, a smile on its lips. “It is good to see she was correct.” 

Loral gazed around her, not recognizing this part of the fade. “Where are we? If I'm still me, why am I not in my fade space?” 

“Mythal has shielded you, for the time being. She asked me to relay a message when you arrived.” Wisdoms tone changed, the time worn voice of Flemmeth floating out of its mouth. 

“Welcome back, child. I know you have questions, which will be answered in time. You know why you are here, you know what is at risk. Save him, and you will save Thedas. You have a month to prepare for the Conclave, use it wisely. I am sure I don't need to remind you to stay out of sight. As you have stated before, sometimes the most you can do is try for the best outcome in a world of bad choices.” 

Uh huh, not creepy at all. “Thank you, Wisdom. I understand.” A month to prepare for what was to come and get ready. She glanced down at her outfit, the fade still reflecting what she was actually wearing. New clothes and food seemed like excellent places to start.  

“She has sent a trusted guardian to assist you, he should be along in a day or two.” 

“Please give her my thanks, and if you can, tell her I will do all within my power to save him… us. Thedas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who called it? Ah come on, someone had to suspect something lol. You guys are awesome, loving the comments :D As for Dorian in the future... he's a bit of a rule breaker ;P
> 
> side note: anyone want to see a real life nug? look up paca's


	12. Finally

"Over here! Ellana, we found him! Mahanon! Can you hear me? Loral, ma'lath. Ane ma tamahn?" 

Ellana barreled into the room, throwing herself over her brothers body as her hands frantically search for the source of his bleeding. 

"What happened! Moe! Mahanon, please, brother, wake up!"   

They blinked, and Mahanon was gone.  

"MAHANON!" Ellana screamed, frantically crawling across the floor on hands and knees in search of her brother.  

Bull picked the hysterical woman up, uncaring of the blood coating her hands as she punched his chest in grief. "I've got you boss," he crooned as he held Ellana tight, pressing her tear streaked face into his shoulder as she continued to scream in denial. "I've got you." Glancing up his attention immediately went to Solas. The usually composed man was staring at a something in his shaking hand, his throat moving fast while blinking quickly as he tried to speak.  

"Mahanon... will be fine. He has been taken to a safe place... " He closed his fist around the paper, dropping his now steady voice lower. "We must act as if he is dead, until the danger has passed." They all glance at the oblivious Ellana, all knowing she cannot be told her brother lives. 

"This source of yours can be trusted?"  

Solas had a far away look in his eyes, a strange hope on his face. "I must go. Answers are needed. I will search see what I can find." He turned to leave, making it as far as the front entrance before Dorian stopped him.  

"I saw her too." 

Solas stopped, fists clenching.  

"That was not Loral." 

The image of the woman who had taken Mahanon flashed across Solas's memory, the speed she had moved at not hiding her face from his perceptive eyes.  

"That is Loral. If what I suspect is true, she is no longer just a passenger here." His excitement is plain to see. "I will return soon, I have things to check into." 

"Take me with you Solas. I want to see with my own eyes that Mahanon is safe." 

Solas places a hand on Dorian's shoulder, looking him directly in the eyes. "You will see Mahanon again, just not today." Dropping his hand he turned and left, waiting until he was out of the other mage's sight before fade stepping away. 

 _I have taken_ _Mahanon_ _to the place your firefly_ _rests._ _Find us there, alone. Tell the others to act as if he is dead, or they will try to take him again._  

Dorian stared at the note, frowning as he felt the spell embedded in the paper. It felt like a protection spell, almost like a barrier. But from what? Glancing back as Bull walked up with Ellana still wrapped in his arms he pocketed the note, saving it for another time. 

 

 

 _"What happened? After Moe died?"_  

 _Ryan shifted, pulling Loral closer as they cuddled on the couch. "Moe's_ _body...vanished_ _. I was going to follow a lead, something about my old_ _temple_ _...  Rumors_ _abound for years, but Mahanon was never seen again."_  

 _"Why did you go to your temple?"_  

 _"There was a note."_  

 

  

It was daunting knowing she stood at a turning point, a crucial fork in unknown separations in the timeline. Watching as Solas paced back and forth in front of the temple, fighting with himself over whether or not he should enter, brought back something he'd said in the game. "In another world." Well, here she was, in another world, and definitely not in a video game. No time like the present.  

Calling on her magic she semi cloaked herself in the dark shadows, only allowing him to see the outline of the teal cloak she still wore. Solas stopped his pacing, turning to her as she exited what was left of the temple entrance, the stone framework barely standing. Uncertainty crossed his face as he felt her magic brush against his, and she knew she saw a bit of disappointment. He had no way of knowing it really was her- just a stronger version. One far more worthy of an elvehn god.   

Loral was surprised when another shadow seperated from the dark, the wolf from earlier giving her a happy yip in greeting before turning in a circle and sitting before her.  _'Friend_ ,' the she wolf exclaimed.  _'I_ _stay with you, please let me stay with you._ ' She half rose, butt up in the air as her tail wagged estatically.  _'I stay right?_ _Wi_ _th_ _you, stay?'_  Loral laughed inside, grinning at the wolf.   

 _'You may stay. I will see you inside._ '  

Yipping again the she wolf trotted inside, head held high. Looking back up Loral saw that Solas was watching the whole exchange with a slightly bemused look on his face. Showtime. Pushing power into her voice to distort it a little she said, "You came." She didn't want to toy with him, but she also wanted to be sure.  

"You requested I come, alone. And I have." Why so serious, Solas. She laughed inside at her little joke to herself.   

"You seek the boy."   

"I seek answers. And the boy." He said the last as if it were an afterthought. And maybe it was, they didn’t exactly get along, what with Moe's pencent for torching Solas's tunics. Subtley easing out her mana she checked if he really was alone, before pulling it back after happily verifying the truth of his words.  Satisfied she flared her mana again, watching his eyes widen slightly in shock before he caught himself. As her cloak of darkness slipped away and she became easier for him to see she stepped closer, pushing back her hood once she stood right in front of him. "You are alone, at least for now. Moe was not the only one hosting a soul traveler." Her green eyes flashed at him from Miolu'vuns face. "You will need to learn how to block Ryan from your memories."  

Her words seemed to wash right over him as his eyes darted over her face, Loral nearly giggling at his fish mouth movements. "How," he finally got out. "How are you here, like this?"  

Gesturing with her hand she waved towards the entrance, stepping forward as she spoke. "Come, let us talk inside. There is much to discuss and I wish to be near should Moe wake up."  

Taking up a posture much like Solas's she walked with her head high, hands neatly clasped behind her back. "I believe you know the way." Sola's quirked a brow at her, his confusion clear until they faced the wall with the ward on it.   

"Ah."  

 She chuckled. Took him long enough, these had been his private rooms after all. After arriving here and entering Miol's body she'd discovered that the one small room she had stumbled into had in fact been a common room for a series of three suites. One for Solas, AKA Fen'Harel, and the others, well, she could only speculate. The theory that haunted her the most is he had a mistress, or two, but more than likely it was for special guests. She wasn’t sure she was gutsy enough yet to ask.  

Purposely keeping her distance from him she opened the door to the left, revealing Moe's pale figure laying on the bed, the tall elf next to him dipping a cloth in water before reapplying it to his head.   

"How is he, Maeron?" The tall elf turned to them, the mark of mythal clear on his face.   

"Your healing has taken, m'lady. He will recover."  

"Thank goodness." She sighed tiredly. It had taken a lot out of her to save Moe, the dagger that had pierced his lung had been poisoned. "Please let me know if his condition should change."  

"Of course, m'lady."  

Gesture with her head to Solas indicating he should follow she walked out of the room and into the middle suite – his room. Once inside he began to prowl, the wolf in him close to the surface judging from the flashes of red in his eyes. Closing the door she braced herself for anything.  

"You have questions. Ask away."  

Throwing his head high he took a deep breath, eyes still flaring red as he fought his wolf. "How long," he growled, the deep undertone sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. "How long have you been here, like this? How long have you watched but not shown yourself?"  

"Since before the Breach." His nose flared before he resumed his pacing. "A lot has happened since last I saw you, Solas. Could you not sit, so we may talk." If looks could kill – that would be a no then.  

"You have been here, since before all of this?" He stalked closer, and trying to keep an decent distance she stepped back. "And have said nothing?" Frowning he did it again, hurt crossing his eyes when she repeated her step away.   

"Things had to happen in their natural order, I could not interfere."  

"And now?"  

"In my time you never entered the temple, never saw me. You left and we never saw each other again. By doing what I have done the timeline has been split, I am in unfamiliar territory now."  

Something flickered in his eyes, intelligent thought trying to outweigh primal anger. Finally they settle to their normal stormy blue, Solas leaning back and crossing his arms as he considered her.  

"And what have you learned, before this change, that you now fear me?" 

"I have never feared you, Solas, and I don’t intend to start now. Much has changed, but not that."  

Her calm façade nearly shattered when he snarled, eyes flashing red again as he resumed his pacing.   

"Then tell me what has changed."  

"After Moe died, you pulled me into a time hundreds of years from now. It was not a good time. When I awoke back in my own time... I met Ryan." Hurt flickered across his face at the softening of her words. "Ryan... was you."  

Solas froze, only his eyes giving any clue to his inner turmoil.  

"You died in that time you took me too, Solas. And I, or rather my host, with you." Her heart hurt seeing the look on his face. Was it his death that hurt so much? Or hers?  

"You mentioned outside... This Ryan, he lives within me, as you did Mahanon?"  

"Yes. He started to remember being you long before the Altus was built. He knew things even the Altus could not show us, which kind of proves how driven you are. Can't even let your future self be himself." She smiled teasingly at him. "He said, around this time you figured out how to block him, so his memories of what happens after today were sparse and scattered. I'm not sure how you figured it out if I wasn’t around to tell you about him, but you did."  

"I have suspected for a time that I was not alone. It is... unnerving, to know that I am not just myself. And fascinating... You and Ryan, were you two..?"  

Her eyes dropped to the floor, the crevices in the stonework suddenly enthralling. "No. I finally understand how you can want me, only me, when we have met numerous times over my many lives. He was you, and yet, he wasn’t."  

She hadn't realized how close he was until his fingers gently lifted her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Why do you act like this is a bad thing?"  

"Because I tried."  

Giving her a small smirk he traced her jawline, eyes never leaving hers as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her. "Not fear, guilt." Leaning closer he nuzzled her neck with his face, scenting her. She could feel a small shudder vibrate up his arms, his breath not quite steady.  

"Solas?"   

"I thought I lost you tonight." He finally growled. "That I would never see your beautiful eyes, or hear your teasing laughter again." His hand traveled up the back of her neck, gripping the hair hard enough to puller her head back but not hurt her as he again forced her eyes to meet his. "And now you're here, in Miolu'vun's body. Moving as if it is your own. Tell me, how has this come to be?"  

She probably shouldn’t be so turned on by his dominant behavior, but she felt desire pool in her lower belly and knew she want fooling anyone. And if the darkening of his eyes said anything, he knew it too.  

"I learned of a way to choose which life to visit. But when I tried it myself it showed me..." She gasp when he slowly leaned forward and kissed her throat. "It's permanent! I'm not leaving, ever again!"  

He lifted his head, eyes smoldering. "Permanent?"  

She barely got her yes out before his lips crashed on hers. "Finally," he snarled as he pulled her tighter against his body, his arousal leaving no doubt what he wanted from her.   

Finally, she silently whimpered back. Finally. 

 

 

 _"What do you think would have happened, if you had gone in?"_  

 _Ryan turned, gazing lovingly at her face. "I think... the whole world would have changed."_  

 

 

Dorian gazed about the fade in confusion, everything before him strange and foreign. His hands moved over something, eyes frantically jumping up to the body laying in the solid cocoon like mechanism as it slide the person out. 

“Get a medic in here ASAP!” The body began to shake, trashing against its restraints. Jumping over the short wall dividing them he grabbed something off his neck and jammed it into the woman's mouth. It was Loral, the woman before him was Solas’s Loral. But she looked... so different from the woman he had met in the fade. After a few minutes she stopped thrashing about, her heaving chest giving proof she yet lived.  

Dorian watched as he lunged back to grab some weird thing, punch a few tiles with foreign glyphs on it, and hold it up to his head as he looked at a flat object with moving pictures. Then the object Loral lay on stopped moving, a terrible grinding screeching noise emanating from it. 

"Damnit!" 

"Well hello to you too." A woman's voice sighed through the device.  

“Get me the Director!” 

“You know he hates to be disturbed.” 

“I wouldn't call him if it wasn't vital, Melody. Get. Me. The. Director.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Solas's defense, he has waited a few thousand years for this.


	13. Bawdy Tavern Songs and Dorian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed a laugh, do you need a laugh? I think this nutty fun chapter will help with that. Enjoy!

"Now listen my children, a story you'll hear. A song I will sing you; 'twill fill you with cheer." 

Oh my goodness, Loral internally groaned from her side of the bed. Not again! 

"A charming young maiden was wed in the Fall. She married a man who had no balls at all." 

"Moe!" 

He pretended to ignore her, failing to hide the grin on his face. "No balls at all, no balls at all. She married a man- ooph!" 

She smashed her pillow into his face. "What?" She yelled down at him. "I can't hear you!" His hands grabbed her waist, lifting her off him.  

"Your just mad cause you didn’t get to find out if Solas has balls or not." He was right of course, as Mearon had been more afraid of not following her orders then pissing Solas off when he'd announced Moe had woken up. 

He ducked before her pillow hit him again, a shiteating grin on his face. "The night of the wedding she leaped into bed." He jumped out of bed as she charged him with her pillow again. "Her breasts were a-heaving," His hands mimicked his words, Loral finally lost her fight to not laugh. "Her legs were spread. She reached for his penis, his penis was small." He held up his pinky finger and wiggled it at her. She was dying now, barely able to lift the pillow as she held her sides. "She reached for his balls, he had no balls at alllllll." 

"I see you're quiet recovered." Seeing an opportunity as Moe sheepishly turned to Dorian she swung her pillow, catching him upside the back of his head.  

"Indeed." Solas seconded, eyes on Loral's flushed grin.  

"Dorian! Be my prince charming and save me from this wretched pillow beating beast!" 

"Darling, I rather think you might actually warrant the beating she is giving you. Where in Thedas did you learn a song like that?"   

"The Bull taught it to him, along with a few new drinking games." 

"Ah, if the Bull is involved then that make complete sense. Still, it is good to see you alive, Mahanon, and obviously in good health."  

"Thanks to Loral, she's the best healer in Thedas!" 

"Good, that will make our cover story more believable." 

Loral and Moe both frown, confusion on their faces. Suddenly Loral's brows rose in understanding. "You want us to go back, to the Inquisition." 

"Aww, I was just starting to like it here too." 

Dorian huffed. "Ah, yes. It is charming, in a 'the roof might collapse on me at any moment', kind of way." 

"Exactly." 

Solas walked up to Moe, gazing at him with a critical eye. "Moe, stay right there please. Loral, I am not strong enough to do this alone. Might you lend me your magic?" 

She caught on right away. Standing next to him, placing one hand over his heart from the front, and the other from the back, she _pushed_ her mana into his dwindled mana pool. Drawing just enough to perform the spell she watched as Moe's features shifted to greater resemble her own. Aww, he looked like her, Miolu'vun's, brother now. It saddened her actually, for Ellana's sake.  

Stepping back Solas curved an arm around her waist, drawing her into his side as they studied his handiwork. 

"What did you do?" Moe felt his face, frowning at the changes. 

 "You look like Loral's brother now. Don’t worry, it's only permanent if you want it to be. Dorian and I have spread rumors that I had sent for an old acquaintance of mine, a healer. We left together to make sure you arrive in Haven safely. Mahanon will be... we need to work on names." 

"I'll be Miolu'vun, Miol for short. I already respond to that name anyways." 

A pained expression crossed Solas's face. "Are you sure? There are a lot of memories attached to that name, for both of us." 

"I have been going by that name for thousands of years, Solas. It is as familiar to me as my own." 

A gasp was her only warning.  

"Thousands of years?" Loral buried her head in Solas's shoulder, silently cursing her slip. "Exactly how do you two know each other again?" 

Picking her head back up she gave Solas a small nod at the silent question in his eyes.  

"It's ok." Surprisingly it's Moe who comes to the rescue. "I've suspected it for awhile now. Some of the things you two say, or have spoken of, never really added up to me. But this makes sense. You two," he pointed between them. "Are elvehn, aren't you?" 

"Of course they're elven, Mahanon, they look like you don’t they." 

"No, no, no." He shook his head emphatically. "No elven – elv _e_ _hn_. Ancients. Immortals." 

Yeah, and ones the Dread Wolf. But, we'll stick to your version of things.  

"Well." 

"Indeed. I'm sure you understand why this knowledge should stay between us?" 

"Uh, duh. Like anyone would believe me anyways." They lapsed into silence. 

"What about Pervon? For my name?" 

Loral snorted. "Sounds rather close to pervert if you ask me. How bout Meren?" 

"Are you calling me gay? You know what, yes, we'll go with Meren. I'll have me a gay old time with that one." 

"Meren means gay?" Dorian's mustache twitched. 

"Well, if the shoe fits. It also mean merry or joyous." He shrugged, obviously not caring how they took it. "So from now on, call me that so I get used to it. It would be rather awkward if I don’t respond to my own name." They all nodded slowly, each agreeing in their own way.  

"Out of curiosity, what does Miolu'vun mean?" 

"Firefly. That's why Solas always called me his little light." 

"Wait, that note you got." Dorian turned to Solas. "It said to meet where your firefly rests." He turned to Loral. "Were you sleeping?" 

"In a manner of speaking, yes. But now that my spirit has returned to this body I am very much awake. And will remain so." 

He looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it. Turning back to the door he walk away. "Shall we be off then? This place reminds me of Minrathous after Satinalia. Just so you know, blood magic and brandy are a devastating mix."


	14. Crash Landing

Fire exploded above her as Loral dove to the ground, barely escaping the long reach of the red templar swinging his sword at her.  

"Miol!" The scream was her only warning as Ellanas twin daggers made an appearance through the man's chest, the lith elf clinging viciously to his back. "You ok?!" 

Loral clasped hands with Ellana, the other woman helping her up as she nodded she was ok. "I'm fine, just need a moment to catch my breath." 

"Ha! Only you would say that after being hit by a comet. 'Fraid times up though." She braced herself as more templars scaled the walls. "Sera, cover me!" 

Loral watched in detached fascination as Ellana charged forward, daggers ready, the small figure of Sera in the distance firing an arrow straight into a templars open mouth. Something roared in the distance. Finally, she breathed. Resuming the half meditative state she'd been in when the massive meteor sized fireball had knocked her into the red templar, she breathed deep, willfully pulling more mana from the fade. Every templar and mage in the area looked at her, each feeling the pull in their own way. Slowly releasing her breath the sound of steel striking steel echoed around her as she built the strongest barrier she could, pushing it out from her body to create a large dome of protection that each of her companions immediately gathered under. Idly watching the archdemon like creature fly above, flames flying in her direction from its massive jaws, she reflected on how very different this day was compared to the game version. For starters, Ellana knew her.  

 

 

 _"Damnit you two, we leave in an hour to close the Breach and_ _now you show up? Where have you been these last two day!?" The small elf glared daggers at the two mages before her._  

 _Loral looked around as the woman gave them a tongue lashing. Where were all the villagers? She saw the soldiers, each standing battle ready at various points in town, even a few healers talking as they hurried with items piled in their arms. But not a single villager... she'd evacuated_ _hadn't_ _she... or were they all waiting in the tunnels?_  

 _"Hey Lo, pay attention." Loral whipped around to face to Ellana's, the blue my heart just stopped eyes laughing back at her._  

 _"Wha-"_  

 _"_ _Later_ _, right now we need to concentrate on getting that Breach closed and fucking up the Elder One's attack._ _" She lowered her voice. "You still go by_ _Miol_ _?" Dumbfounded Loral just nodded. "Hehe, I like that look on you Lo," she nugd_ _ed Lorals chin, pushing her mouth closed.  "I promise, I'll explain later."_  

 _Turning she yelled, "Commander! Are we ready t_ _o leave_ _?"_  

 _"Yes Lady Herald, as soon as you give the order."_  

 _"Good._ _Lets_ _head out then. Miol, M_ _-"_  

 _"Meren."_  

 _Ellana cleared her throat, smirking. "Of course. Meren, both of you please join us. We need all the firepower we can get." She lowered her voice again. "Although with you hanging around Lo, I think we'll have far more than we need." She grinned at her companions confused faces. "Alright, lets hit the road folks. We've got work to do."_  

 _It was a complete_ _one eighty shift from_ _the woman who'd greeted them when they'd arrived to the woman leading them out the gates_ _, nearly skipping as she teasingly tugged Loral's long tresses. "You have a lot of explaining to do." Loral muttered, trying hard to ignore the_ _woman's_ _odd behavior._  

 _"You and me both, sister. You and me both."_  

 

 

"Miol, NOW!" 

Like a metaphysical fade slingshot Loral released the torpedo like blue fireball she'd been forming, hurling the sword shaped object straight at the dragon just as it flew overhead. A huge boom, blue fireworks and the dragons enraged roar confirmed impact, but Loral was concerned where it had hit. She had literally just poked the beast. Hopefully really hard. 

"Fall back to the Chantry!"  

Chancelor What's-his-face was at the entrance to the Chantry, waving in the approaching soldiers. Loral suddenly felt really bad, the man looked like he'd been caught in the original avalanche that had demolished half of Corypheus's forces earlier. He dies, she remembers. And she hadn't even bothered to learn the man's name.  

Cole appeared then, wrapping the clerics arm around his shoulder just as he started falling over. 

"He tried to stop a templar. The blade went deep. He's going to die." His eyes dart from Ellana to me. "But you already knew that. You came, like you said you would. But that was not your body before, how did you change it?" 

"What a charming boy." 

"That he is. Did you get them out Roderick?" Oh, Loral blinked in surprise. Is that his name? 

Cullen ran up then. "Herald, our position is not good. That dragon stole back any time you and your companions may have earned us." 

"I've seen an Archdemon. It was in the fade but it looked like that."  

Cullen glared at Cole. "I don’t care what it looks like-" 

"Enough." They both turned at Ellanas quiet words. "Roderick?" 

"They await your signal." Cole helped him up, leading him towards where the hidden exit must be. "I pray for you, Herald." 

"And I for you Roderick. Walk in your Makers path."  

Loral turned away, watching the entrance as Ellana, or Nevalia, it would seem, argued with Cullen. The man seemed a bit more upset then he should be about Ellana's seeming little suicide run to fire that last trebuchet. She wanted to say Ellana would be fine, but now was not the time to clue Cullen in to who she was. A hand settled on the base of her back, drawing her attention to the man beside her.  

"Are you sure this is the only way, Vhenan?" 

"I am. History must play out right, remember?" 

"And if he sees you?" 

"You know I love you right?" 

"Loral..." 

"Shhh," she put a finger on his lip. "We will meet you in two days, Solas. I swear it. Just... don’t let them move along too quickly. That storm's going to be hell to navigate as it is." She pulled him into a hug. 

Something stung the back of her neck, the look on Solas's face saying he knew exactly what had just happened. "What did you do?" Rubbing her neck she checked her fingers. No blood, that's good at least.  

"I placed a tracker on your neck, a glyph I use for my most trusted scouts, should they get lost." 

"Is it permanent?"  

He smirked. "It can be. Personally it gives me a sense of... pleasure," the words whispered next to her ear sent a shiver down her spine. "Seeing my mark on you. And knowing everyone else can see it as well." 

"Ass. We'll discuss this later, Ellana looks ready to go." As a matter of fact the small elf looked only too pleased to be interrupting as she waved Loral over.  

"Sorry there's not enough time to jump his bones," she leaned close to whisper. "But we've got a Coryfish to mess with." 

"Oh, like you want to jump Cullen's?" They nudged shoulders like the long lost friends they were, much to the confusion of those not in the know. "So what is it, those soulful golden eyes or the long blonde locks your just dying to run your hands through?" 

"Shush it you or I'm going to tell Solas how from the day you met him you'd fantasize about doing the same to his, among other things."  

A throat cleared behind them. "You just did." 

"What! He could-"  

"SHH!" They both laughed. "Come on, let's take this party to the next level." 

As soon as we reached the forward trebuchet Loral located the blocked off mining entrance and as soon as Cory and his flying fish arrived she grabbed Ellana's bag and dived in. Back pressed to the wall she strained to hear them talking. Why weren't they talking? Or were they and she just couldn’t hear them? Oh she's such an idiot, why on earth did she just leave her best friend out there alone to deal with that vile monstrosity and his rotting pet? Hearing an impact on metal she grabbed her courage close and peaked her head up. Corypheus was standing a small distance from Ellana, who was slouched against the trebuchet.  

"The anchor is permanent." He was saying. "You have spoiled it with your stumbling." Where was the sword? There's supposed to be a sword there to cut the rope with! 

"So be it. I will begin again. Find another way to give the world the nation- and God- it requires." A small red light flew into the air in the distance, both Ellana and Loral watching its slow decent. They made it out, it was time. But she had not sword, how was she- Loral stopped. Dumbass, Ellana might need a sword but you sure don’t.  

"And you. I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die." Does this guy really ramble so much in game? Loral honestly didn’t remember. Eyes catching on a dagger she quietly hauled herself over the ledge to reach it. Ellana saw her, gave her a small nod of encouragement and a smile. Corypheus seemed to think it was for him, his deformed face scrunched up further in rage.  

"Your arrogance blinds you, good to know. If I'm dying it's not today!" Yelling this Ellana jumped to the side and kicked the pulley as hard as she could before leaping off the platform, straight towards Loral. Oh, guess the sword was just a prop. How the hell was that thing just sitting there if all it took was one lousy kick to set it off? Eyes widening at the small form rapidly approaching she pushed herself back over the ledge, effectively cushioning Ellana's fall as the woman landed on top of her. Thank goodness she's just a wisp of a thing, Loral groaned as snow fell around them. Is it possible to break your tailbone?


	15. I'm Not Lion

"Your an elf, how do you have so much cushioning." 

Loral moan laughed. "You should be thanking that cushioning, it just saved you from a potential head injury." 

Dragging herself off Loral's chest with a groan Ellana flipped onto her back, gazing at the now covered opening above them.  "Thank you, oh beauteous mounds, this would have gone a lot differently if you hadn't been there to catch me." 

Loral weakly swatted her arm, both still gazing upwards. "How are you controlling Ellana? Did you-?" 

"She gave me permission to take over, I didn’t, like, possess her or anything. It's only temporary, until she wants control back." Ellana turned to face her, Nevalia's clear blue eyes watching her as she considered her words. "You were in Mahanon, but now your in Miol again. Is she still there, with you?" 

Loral sat up, dismayed to see her staffs broken parts under her. So it wasn’t her tailbone she'd felt snap, she thought with relief. Not that that knowledge made it hurt any less. Stretching with a groan she fished a healing potion from her pack and handed it to Ellana. "Tell me where you've been, then I'll try and explain what's up with me." 

Ellana took a sip of the potion, grimacing. "I have a serious love hate relationship with this stuff. Ok, um. Shit, we're at an impasse aren't we? How bout I give a little, you give a little. Lets start with – who are you working for?" 

Loral grinned, feeling a little cocky. "No one." 

"Your serious. I mean, I kind of assumed as much seeing as you’re here and your body is there, not in the Altus. We took you, er, your body from the Altus Project a few days ago." 

"Eh, why would you do that? Is it even still alive?"  

Ellana groaned, running her hand down her face. "You need to give me more to work with here, Lo. Here's what I know I'm allowed to tell you. I am in an Altus like machine, but not the one controlled by the Altus Project. I was liberated from the project when it was discovered I am the Herald. I was sent here with the hope of stopping Coryface and his goons, and stopping Solas. We know who he is, both here and there. Having seen all the footage of your sessions to acquaint myself with Solas's behavior, in the hope of wooing him by the way, I recognized you right away. Needless to say, there will be no wooing of Solas now, not that he'd look at anyone else with you around. This explains so much, actually- you being here." 

"Three days ago your body was delivered to us by an insider, stating you have been in a coma for the last four days and this happened when you entered the Altus. So what I _really_ want to know right now is how you are here, when you’re a damn veggie, there. Not that I'm complaining, best news of my day was seeing your big green eyes in that gorgeous little face." She held up a hand at Loral's frown. "Before you ask, we have Ryan's tapes too. I know Miol had blue eyes, and that they would change when you.." Her hands danced in the air before she shrugged. "Manifested yourself.  

Hmm, interesting. So they know who she is, but not that Miol died. And they know Ryan is Solas. Do they know who Dr. Almadaris is? Or his plans? Or is stopping Solas their only goal?  

"Miolu'vun died before the fall of Arlathan, but not her body. I've only recently acquired a.. permanent, use of it. Before that, as you know, I was in the Herald's brother, Mahanon." 

"Permana.... for reals?"  

"Yup. I'm an immortal elf now and until the day I die." No need to elaborate on what kind of immortal elf she was. "Come on, we need to get moving before you freeze." Groaning like two old ladies they stood up, stretching and twisting until, with a glance, they started down the tunnel.  

"I'm curious. How did you know I'm a strong enough mage to make a difference in that little fight back there?" 

"I'm not an idiot Lo. I know for a fact you have spent thousands of years living as Miol, a mage. You had to have learned something in all that time. And if I was wrong, well, I wasn’t so it doesn’t matter." Shivering she rubbed her arms, her breath visible in the cool air. "So now would be an awesome time to share how your not cold and I'm over here freezing my tits off." 

Loral just waved a glowing hand at her, grinning.  

"That is so cheating-" They stopped, hearing noises. Turning the corner they both glue themselves to the wall as they spot demons patrolling the ground. 

 "Use that new power of yours," Loral hissed. 

"What new- oh yeah. You know they actually forced me to play the game over and over once they made the connection. Almost made me sick of it." 

"Please, like you'd argue about seeing Cullen over and over again." 

She rolled her eyes. "Where's the duct tape when you need it." 

"It doesn't work, all you have to do is-" Loral mimicked licking the tape around her mouth. "And it gets really loose." 

 "Dare I ask how you know this?" 

"My brother may have tried it on me a few times. Never worked." 

With a snort Ellana stepped forward. "Didn’t do it tight enough then." She raised her hand, brows drawn in concentration. A flicker, a boom, and green light filled the room as she created her first rift, tearing the demons apart. "That's scary," she mumbled once the rift dissipated.  

"But handy." At the entrance they confirmed what they both already knew, there was a blizzard blowing. 

Ellana stopped, moaning with her hand on her head. "She wants control back. I'll try to come back soon, I promise. Be nice, she's scared." 

"Does she remember what's happened?" 

"Yeah. I know we have a lot to discuss still, but it'll have to wait. Love you, Lo." 

"Love you, Nev." 

Her body slumped, the strength Nevalia had been using gone as Ellana regained herself.  

"Ellana? How are you feeling?" 

"L-Loral... I know that's you. D-does this mean- you being in that body. I mean- can you not." A sob escaped her throat. "Is Mahanon really gone?" 

Gazing into her eyes Loral knew there was no way she could keep it a secret any longer. "I healed him in time, Ella. He lives."  

Her body shook as sobs wracked her body, her fist clenched tight to her lips in an effort to stifle them. "Thank you," she squeaked. "Oh creators, Loral, thank you."  

In a sudden move she flung her arms around Loral, "He's all I had left." She sobbed into her shoulder. "I felt so lost with him gone, I didn’t know what to do. I love him, you know." 

Loral leaned back, pushing Ellana's hair out of her face. "I think he would really like to hear that for himself." 

Excitement lit her tear streaked face. "Yes, your right. Of course your right, your always right. W-When can I see him?" She shivered. 

"Soon, I promise. But first we need to reach the others. I'm going to try something, see if we can travel faster, but it might take a minute since I've never done it before." 

Ellana nodded, leaning into the wall with her arms wrapped around herself to try and stay warm.  

Teleporting was out of the question, she didn’t have the connection to Moe anymore and there were too many unknowns. But if she could run it... all of the elvehn gods could shapeshift, why couldn’t she. Concentrating she dug deep, feeling within herself. Here kitty kitty- kitty? Oh please don’t tell her she was some friggin house cat, that would totally ruin her plans to get Ellana to safety. Feeling the rightness of it she pulled the essence forward within her, embracing it, molding it's form to her own. A rush of power flowed over her and she could feel the changes as they happened. Her body grew larger, bulkier, her sight sharper and hearing amplified to the point she swore she could hear Ellana's heartbeat. Oh, haha, that's because she could.  Turning her head she saw lots of hair, the long golden white locks swished around her face and puffed like a flame on her tail. A lion?!  

She danced on her pads a little, exhilaration flowing through her. She'd always had a love for the large furry felines, especially the sounds they'd make. She's always wanted to roar like one- and now she could! Sucking in a breath she stopped herself. The last thing she wanted to do was scare Ellana. Or cause an avalanche. As far as she knew lions of any kind don’t exist in Thedas, much less anything with their particular roar. Then how did Cullen get his nickname, the Lion of the Inquisition?  Oh wait, she suddenly remembered. Orlais is crawling with images of lions, so maybe they exist somewhere? 

Ellana was watching her intently despite the severe shivers shaking her body. _'Climb on my back,'_ Loral thought said to her. She didn’t respond. Did it not work on non mages? _'Climb on my back.'_ She added more force this time, please to see the startled expression on Ellana's face.  

"Y-you want m-me to ride you?" In answer Loral knelt down, making it easier for the small woman to get on. Tentatively Ellana approached her, stopping to run her fingers through her hair before climbing on. "Your so soft," she mumbled as she dug her arms in, using Loral's hair as a blanket. "So warm..." 

Loral laughed, the sound coming out like a chuff. _'Just don’t fall asleep, you have to hold on.'_  

"Uh huh."   

Taking a deep breath Loral stepped out from  under the little wall of protection, the full force of the blizzard immediately encasing them in a world of white. Feeling Ellana try to burrow deeper into her fur Loral ran as fast as she dared.  

Why couldn’t I have been a wolf, she thought for the thousandth time as howls echoed through the storm. Then I could ask for directions. Not so sure lions are made to traverse rocky mountainsides in the middle of severe winter weather. If things weren't so urgent she locate safe cover and hide out till things settled down. Finding the first firepit where the survivors must have stopped gave her hope, now she knew she wasn’t completely lost. A crinkle, a crack, Loral's ears flattened when her hind legs dipped back, the ice below them twisting to the side as she fell through. Oh my everylovin- her eyes were probably the size of saucers as she quickly freed herself from the freezing trap. Even magic couldn’t dim the terrible sting of below freezing water.  

Dancing a little, shaking her legs, actually seemed to rouse the failing Herald on her back. "You ok, Loral?" 

 _'Yeah, sure.'_ She shook her legs again, but the drops were already frozen tight to her hair. _'How bout you, you ok up there?_ ' Something felt wrong. Glancing back she rolled her eyes in exasperation. Of course. Ice encased her tail, it looked like a frozen lollipop. Trying to break it off was futile, there was nothing hard to hit it against.  

"Can I just keep calling you Loral?" Ellana's voice was getting weaker, pushing Loral to ignore her tail and push forward. "Miol is pretty but it's confusing. Nevalia says this is your real body, so shouldn’t you go by your real name?" 

Good tactic Nev, keep her talking. _'Miolu'vun was my first name, and a bit more_ _elve_ _n_ _sounding. Wouldn’t it be confusing to call a Dalish elf a human name?'_ The howls were getting closer. Hopefully her she wolf, Siha, was with them.  

Ellana snorted, then sneezed when Lorals' hair tickled her face. "You are no more Dalish than a human is qunari. Too much missing, too much _more_ there. The way you carry yourself, no Dalish could look that proud so naturally. You’re a lady if ever I saw one." She coughed, voice trailing off in thought. "Makes me wonder about Solas too, especially with how you and Nevalia were talking earlier. Is he a danger to us, Loral? To the Inquisition?"  

Loral winced. Yeah, they were going to have to do better about watching their words or Solas’s identity was going to be discovered and things could go south, especially with the Dalish’s unwarranted hatred of anything involving him. But if that was true then how did he get all those followers in the trespasser dlc? Maybe she’s wrong? Hopefully? A growl pulled her from her thoughts, instantly putting her on edge. That was to close, way to close. Rumbling back a growl of her own she warned the wolf to back off.  

Through the whiteout a black object moved to her left, then another to her right. Something lighter in color appeared before her, but the growl to her back is what finally caused a spike of panic. She was surrounded.  _'Make yourself as small as possible, Ellana. And hold on tight.'_ The body on top of her shifted, the hands in her mane and knees clenching her side tightened their hold. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the wolf to her left made the first move.  

Feinting to the right as it leapt at her, Loral tried to retaliate but nearly tripped instead. Nothing like fighting for your life in a completely unfamiliar form. Swinging to the side as she attempted to avoid another attack she smacked the first wolf with her tail, the resulting whimper reminding her it was still encased in ice. And it's blunt force trauma for a win! Knockout by icy tail. Getting a better feel for her body she swiped at the next incoming body, snarling and snapping, twisting and turning as they attempted to get the upper hand on her. Leaping up she managed to pin the largest one, clamping her massive jaws behind it's neck and breaking it with a twist of her head. In her elation over stopping an enemy she failed to notice the smallest of the group sneaking behind her, the little wolf getting the better of her by locking it's jaws over her thigh, it's nails biting into her flesh while it fought to stay on.  

All thoughts left her head, pure animal instinct unleashing itself through the mighty roar she released before wrapping the small wolf in her jaws and giving it a bloody end on the ground below her. Huffing in pain she duly noted that something new had joined the fight against the remaining wolves, something with metal heads and long pointy sticks.  

"Halt!" The creature in front yelled. "Do not harm that lion!" 

"Loral," A voice spoke quietly from her mane. "Is that Cullen?"  The soft words and clenched fists pulling her hair brought her back to herself, her mind once again her own. With a grimace at the view before her she limped closer to Cullen, impressed with how even though his heart rate nearly tripled the man held his ground.  

She stood in front of him, chuffed in his face, and still he didn’t budge. Very impressive. 

"Solas told me you were bringing the Herald." His words were low enough no one else heard them. "Loral?" 

Loral rolled her massive eyes to the side, shaking her head in exasperation. Thanks for letting the cat out of the bag Solas. Hope this doesn’t bite us in the ass later.  Still, Cullen earned major brownie points in her book. He had stood there, scared out of his wits, with only the _hope_ that she was Loral. That took balls.  

Laying down she lowered her head, the small form clinging to her back clearly visible. "Herald!" Without another thought Cullen pulled the woman off, wrapping her in his cloak. "Do you need assistance," he asked as he stepped back. She shook her head no, only dimly thinking maybe she should have asked him to fetch Solas for her as he called his men and hurried away. The adrenaline from the fight was ebbing away, the pain in her lower body flaring more by the second. Bet Varric's going to have a field day with this one. 

 

 

"Boss, as much as I fancy walking into camp with a nice white fur coat there is no way I can move her. Would you calm down already? We found her didn’t we?" 

"If Commander Cullen had just informed me where she was last night I wouldn’t have been up all night looking for her, and Solas wouldn’t still be out there looking for her!" 

"She's right you know. Chuckles about lost it when he heard Curly left her out here. It's the quiet ones you have to watch for you know, although you really had to be there to believe it." 

"That bad?" Dorian sounded skeptical. 

"It was incredible. Never knew that elf had it in him." 

"He had no reason to believe she was going to bury herself in the snow for the night." 

"She passed out, jackass! She used a lot more mana yesterday then she's used to and passed out after the wolf attack. I watched her drop- and that dickhead wouldn’t let me come back for her!" 

"What is it with you and names involving body parts?" 

Something brushed her cheek. "Loral, dear, I think we'd all feel a lot better if you'd join us in the waking world. Ellana is quiet beside herself." 

Kneading her paws she yawned, slowly smacking her lips before opening her eyes. Bull's hand was next to her muzzle, palm flat as he used it to measure her teeth. _'Really?'_  

The man didn’t even blink at being talked to telepathically by a giant cat. "Are you kidding me? These things are huge! It's no wonder you did such a number on those wolves last night!" 

"Loral!" Slim arms encircled her neck, squeezing tight. "What the hell woman! You just thought you'd curl up and take a cat nap under the snow?! I've been looking for you for hours! Not easy to do when you blend in!" Loral huffed.  

 _'Solas?'_   

"He's been out looking for you to-" 

"Vhenan!" 

"Speak of the devil." 

Loral watched as Solas slowed his approach, his worry mixing with pride as he took in her form. Shaking his head he knelt in front of her, barely hiding the tremble in his hands as he cupped her cheeks. "We have been all over looking for you ma lath, why did you not join us in camp last night?" 

Instead of answering she rolled to her other side, exposing the thigh the wolf had mangled. "Fendehis lasa! Why did you not heal this!"  

' _Tired_.' Much to Bull's delight she yawned again, the strange man measuring his arm to her open mouth this time. With an unapologetic shrug he leaned over to whisper the size to Varric who happily wrote it in a journal.  

"No one will ever believe this you know." 

"Hey, you said that Flemeth lady turned into a high dragon, why cant the Herald's Magical Advisor turn into a lion?" 

"Well, for starters, dragons are real. Lions are not." 

Loral lifted her eyes from where she'd been watching a stern Solas heal her leg. So as dragons are legend on Earth and real here, lions were legend here and real there? How odd the universe worked.  

"Can you shift back, vhenan?" 

 _'How?_ ' 

"I am no expert on shapeshifting." Liar. "But I would assume doing what you did to shift the first time, in reverse, should probably do the trick." 

Opposite huh. Oh, reach for her, uh, elf half, like she'd done for the lion. The process to change back turned out to be a lot easier than changing to a lion, but she suspected that as she became more used to the two forms it would be easier for both.  

Bull let out a long whistle. "Damn fine woman you've got there Solas." 

"Oh!" 

Varric and Ellana burst out laughing at the bright red flush creeping over Loral's body. Her fully exposed body. Seems she still has so much to learn. Dorian dropped a cloak over her body as Solas scooped her up in his arms. "Come vhenan, let us locate something for you to wear." She could see he was hiding a laugh behind his smirk. "We have a long walk to Skyhold ahead of us." 


	16. Making Plans

 

 

"Come and find me on the rotunda when your done, vhenan." Brushing his lips across hers one more time Solas walked off, his words heavy with intent. She gulped. It has been so very long since she'd been with someone, would she even remember what to do? What if she was a major disappointment? Compared to her he was king of the playboy mansion while she was a wanna be standing at the front gate, praying to whoever would listen that she didn’t embarrass the crap out of herself. Why was she so nervous now when- 

"Loral." A hand waved in front of her face.  

"Mo-ren! Hi!" Her voice did not just squeak, nope, not at all. "When did you get here?" Ok, she was fooling no one. 

And his grin proved it. "I've been trying to get your attention for the last minute or so. Got something on your mind, hmm?"  

Instead of answering she entered the meeting room where they were to met with Ellana, who seemed to not be present yet.  

"I'm going to grab something from my room, be right back." 

Waving him off she explored the room, some maps of Thedas stacked on the main table drawing her in. Shifting them around she was shocked to find a map of the elvehn Crossroads.  

“You have officially elevated my status among the people to cult stupidity.” 

Loral glanced up from the map she'd been studying, a questioning frown in her face. “I did what now?” 

Plopping into a chair next to the table, Ellana (who's posture indicated Nev was in charge) sighed, staring  at the ceiling. “The soldiers who were with Cullen when he met you in the mountains? They're spreading outlandish stories about how I was delivered through the storm on the back of a majestic white lion. Or the other variation, that Andraste took the form of a white lion and you know the rest.”  

“Really?” Loral grinned at the annoyed look on Nev’s face. “Did they happen to mention you were half dead and barely conscious or are you swinging a sword and fighting off wolves?” 

“Sword swinging of course, I'd have it no other way. Maybe I should add wings, that you flew me through the storm instead." 

"That would imply a griffin." 

"Almost, you don’t have an eagle head. Still, given local customs it would probably be easier to swallow then an actual *la gasp* lion. I swear, this place is so ass backwards. What's next, unicorns?" 

Loral laughed. "They actually have those here, just not the pretty kind. Maybe, like the legend of unicorns, lions really did exist here once and were hunted to extinction." 

She snorted. "You really believe that crap? So what, did it take a maiden pure of heart and body to lure them out? How the hell they can be pure of heart if theres always a sword swinging maniac hiding in the bushes ready to kill the unicorn is beyond me. By the way, Ellana is laughing her ass off right now. Says we're weird." 

"No truer statement has ever been issued." They grinned.  

 "Did we miss a bonding moment?" Dorian breezed into the room, Moe fighting to carry a tray of refreshments close on his heels.  

"I thought you said you were heading to your room to fetch something, Moe," Loral teased as soon as the door closed, a silencing rune instantly activating. "Was Dorian in your room?” 

"As much as I crave the privilege," he set down the tray, winking at Dorian. "I have not been granted that honor as of yet." He turned to Ellana. "Nev or Ella?" 

"Nev. Ellana says she'll see you later, you owe her a drink." 

“It's still so weird knowing your inside of her like Loral was in me.” He turned to Loral. “You sure you could never do that,” he indicated Nev. “With me?” 

“And do what exactly? Solas isn't into men so that option wouldn't work.”  

“Damn shame that.” Dorian's face turned wistful. 

“I know right? Have you seen his ass-“ 

Loral face palmed. “If you gentleman don't mind, can we not talk about my mans ass?”  

“Speaking of, why isn't your man and his marvelous ass at this meeting too?” 

“Magnificent ass.” Moe corrected Dorian. 

“Magical ass?” 

“Only Loral would know.” 

“Oh, have they made it that far yet?” 

“GUYS!! Stop!” She could feel the heat spreading through her face, the urge to hide strong. Nev about fell out of her chair laughing at the men's antics, both of them gracing the girls with unashamed grins. 

“He already knows what I want to discuss with you,” she grumbled. “So if your quite done, can we move on to more important subjects?” 

There was some grumbling but everyone settled down around the table, watching her intently.  

"Ok, so at this point you all know about the whole soul traveling circus, some more than others, so we'll skip that part-" 

"Personally I'd like to hear more about it." 

Loral spun around, stunned to see- "Cullen?!" Her gaze jumped to Nev for clarification.  

"I let him in Lo." Loral's brow rose, along with Moe's and possiblely Dorian's. "Hey! We need an advisor in the know and since Cullen already knows so much about what's going on he is the logical choice." 

"Ellana explained to me what is going on, to a point, as we travelled here. She felt that as Solas already trusted me enough to inform me you are actually Loral then I could also be trusted with knowing she is also... Nevalia. It has been explained to me in no uncertain terms that you are not demons, nor malignant in nature, but that this is more of a partnership, of sorts." He rubbed his jaw absently as he spoke, the large green and black bruise still vibrant against his pale skin. Exactly what had happened when Solas confronted Cullen? 

"When you and Solas spoke... what did he tell you?"  

Cullen's mouth moved a few times, frustration apparent on his face. "I can't say," he finally huffed.  

Loral's head tilted to the side, watching Cullen's every move. "Av hasem?" 

The smallest nod of his eyes was her only confirmation. Loral smirked, despite the seriousness of it. The man had no way of knowing he'd given an unbreakable oath to the God of Rebellion, Lord Fen'Harel himself, after all. Damnit. 

"For those of us who know no elven, what is av asam?" 

Moe chuckled. "My dear, dear Dorian. We shall have to remedy that, but later. Av hasem is an oath. Commander Cullen gave an oath to an immortal elf to not speak of whatever happened that night. Varric might tell though, rumor has it he saw some of it." 

"Makers breath... Im-mmortal?" 

"You people suck so fucking badly at keeping secrets, you realize this?" She felt like a petulant child as she stomped her foot, hands on her hips. "Cullen-" 

"No need. You have my word, Lady Loral, that I will in no way shape or form reveal any of what I learn here in this room unless given express permission by you to do otherwise." A feeling, like a lock being clamped shut, filled her, a clanking chime filling the room.  

"Lo, what the hell was that?" 

Loral huffed. "Let's just say there's no way he can break that oath." 

"Your like him, immortal?" 

"Uh, yeah." She cleared her throat. "Anywho, you wanted elaboration on the situation, did you not, Cullen?" He nodded. "Hope your good at taking mental notes, there's a lot to say." She indicated they take their seats, watching as Cullen rubbed his head in pain. Studying him she switched to mage sight, watching all the ins and out's as the lyrium continued to wreck havoc on his system. He'd been clean maybe a month now, how was it still so attached? It was like a living, breathing parasite attached to all his major organs, especially around the nerves at the base of his neck.  

"That is freaky, Lo. What the hell are you doing?" 

Blinking, Loral looked around the table, noting the speculative and suspicious looks aimed her way. "What do you mean?" 

"Your eyes were silver- like dancing lightning in a bottle silver. Like Sola's are in the tress..pas- holy shit! Loral!" Well shit. Loral pursed her lips, eyes narrowed. Keep this to yourself Nev, don’t tell, don’t you friggin tell.  Nev's voice trailed off, mumbling under her breath, her body falling back into her chair as she stared at Loral in shock. "Fuck me..." 

"Care to share with the rest of us?" Moe leans over the table, crushing the map laying on it surface. 

"Moe, get off the map please, I really need that." Loral shoves him backwards, smirking when she see's Dorian discreetly looking at Moe's hind end. "You ok over there Nev?" 

"Yeah," she squeaked after a moment. Clearing her throat she tried again. "So uh, why were you looking at Cullen like that?" The man in question looked very interested in her answer too, honey eyes dancing between the two women.  

"How are the headaches, Cullen?" Cullen and Nev's faces both changed with understanding. "If you want, I can probably help with that later. Ellana can come by too, if that makes you feel more comfortable." 

Cullen rubbed that back of his neck, face glowing pink, before finally nodding. 

Down in the courtyard the time keeper called mid noon, confusing Loral. How had they already wasted an hour? "Shit. Ok, we need to hurry this along before the wrong people notice us all missing." Standing up she tapped the map surface. "Before I start, please hold the questions til the end." Deep breath Loral, you can do this. "There is an event coming up, possibly, in the next few years. This event involves an ancient elf who is convinced the veil must be dropped to right a wrong." Nev nodded, clearly knowing exactly what she's referring to. The other faces ranged from horror to intrigue. "Such an event would actually benefit Thedas greatly, if done right." She held up a hand to stop Cullens impending outburst. "The veil is a construct, Cullen. It was man made, and therefore is not natural. It will eventually drop, even without this persons help. But in doing so the Evanuris would be freed from their prisons. The Dalish are dead wrong for thinking this would be good. I've seen that future, where they are freed. It is a very, VERY bad future. Those damn gods are fucking nuttier than a fox in a hen house, which is exactly how they will treat all of us." 

"I may have found a way to convince said elf on another solution." She tapped the map. "There is a place known as the Crossroads, a space located within the veil and yet separate from it, that if repaired, may possibly solve this whole issue. Solas and I need to go to this place to better understand the damage that has happened to it and if this whole plan will even work, but we need a special... mirror, to enter it. As June is nicely locked away I cannot simply ask him to make us one, so I need to locate one. So, Nev?" 

Nev shrugged. "I have no idea how to contact Morrigan until the ball, sorry." 

Loral nodded, she'd expected as much. "I'd like to explore some ruins in the Emerald Graves. With your permission I can lead a small scouting party through there to prepare some camps for your arrival later." 

"Wait, we're going to the Emerald Graves? Isn't that place full of bears?" 

Nev snorted. "What realm in this forsaken land doesn't have bears? If not bears, dragons?" 

"Anderfels?" 

"You know what, I don’t remember, but we're getting off track. Cullen, can you arrange what Loral needs?" 

"Of course Herald. The other advisors wish to meet to discuss another matter, I'll bring it up when it's relevant." 

Moe turned to Loral, looking her pointedly in the eyes. "I'm coming with you." 

"I'd have thought you'd want to travel with your sister?"  

"I'm pretty sure she's got her hands full enough as it is with Solas and Sera going with her to rescue those scouts in the Fallow Mire. Why do you keep picking them if you just want to kill them the whole time?" 

Nev shrugged. "Cass is cool but too damn serious. Sera breaks that up. And Solas is just too damn handy for his own good... wait. Does he know where your going?" 

Loral pursed her lips but didn’t answer.  

"As much as I hate to say it," Dorian stood, casually sliding his fingers across Moe's shoulders as he walked to look out the window. "You are going to need all the help you can get on this little adventure your planning. May I accompany you to the Emerald Graves?"  

"I'm sure _Moe_ and I would love to have you along." She smirked. "If that’s settled then, I believe we all have places we need to be. We'll talk more later." Cullen practically shot out of the room, Ellana close behind him. Seeing the look on Moe's face, Loral also hi-tailed it out of the room to give the men some privacy.  

Entering the rotunda Loral sneaks paranoid glances up to Leliana's nest, fearful the spymaster will call her out. Thankfully Solas sees her and pulls her down the hall, a wicked grin on his face, full of promises for what was to come.  

 

 

 

(Author's note*  Below this line is a fairly short NSFW scene that is not relevant to the story should you wish to skip it. I haven't written a scene like this before, so please, any suggestions are greatly appreciated.) 

 

 

 

********************************** 

  

  

  

Solas led her down a series of passageways she'd never seen in the game, going deeper into the rocky mountainside. Stopping before a large wood door he ushered her inside, sealing the door behind them.  

Veilfire lit the area, the torches igniting on their own in a row, illuminating a large bathing room. Heating glyphs lit up under what appeared to be fresh water, steam floating already from the surface.  

“You had this room prepared before we arrived didn't you…” The sound of cloth hitting the floor behind her may as well have been thunder for all the effect it had on her.  

“I may have included a request for several rooms to be properly prepared and warded when I had my men clear our likeness from the keep.” His hands settled on her arms, slowly trailing down to the bottom of her tunic while his nose traced her ear. Peppering kisses up her neck he licked her ear, then sucked the tip into his mouth. 

Her body reacted like a strung bow, ass pressing back into his naked groin, breasts forward to his seeking hands. “Solas...” Something hard hit the floor, the hollow bone like sound echoing across the stone work just before his mana surged out, knocking the breath out of her with its shear power.  Her lion answered his call, a low purr vibrating out of her chest, her ass pressing into him again as the feline within her continued to seek his attention on her body. Reaching back she pulled his head forward and smothered his groan with her mouth, their tongues dueling for dominance.  

Pulling back just enough to remove her tunic and breastband, he turned her and backed her into a wall while licking and sucking his way down her chest, his mouth clamping over one hard peak while he squeezed the other between his finger. Wanting to explore him her hands curled around his waist, one gliding up over his pecks as the other slowly slide over his taunt abs, down his hips, only to be stopped by his hand.   

“It has been too long, Loral. I will not be able to control myself if you continue that path.”  

They had been dancing around this for too long for her to be satisfied with slow and gentle. She wanted to see him loose control, craved the feel of him at his most primal. Leaning forward she distracted him with her mouth, nibbling his lips and dueling with his tongue until he let her hand go, then rushed it forward until his hard length was firmly held between her fingers.   

He froze, eyes shut and nostrils flaring, the arms locked against the wall on either side of her head trembled. "Loral," he growled through his clenched jaw as her hand ran up his length, her other hand working the front of her pants down.   

"Ver em," (take me) she moaned, fully exposing her neck to him. "Ar've melenem bellanaris sul min." (I've waited forever for this.)  

Red flashed in his eyes as he dived for her throat, lips and teeth savaging her flesh. Capturing her errant hands he pinned them both above her head with one hand while the other curled over her mound, growling again as two fingers easily slide into her wet heat. Unable to move her hands she sent a tendril of mana down their bodies, the resulting cock ring finally shattering his remaining control.   

The red in his eyes warred with silver, a beat of electricity pulsed over her body with each flash. Her pants disappeared off her body as he flipped her around, pushed her head down roughly and rammed himself into her sheath, then stilled, fingers digging into her hips as he fought to regain control. He hissed when she clenched her inner muscles around him, whimpered his name, begging him to move. One more clench and he was gone.  The sounds of flesh hitting flesh filled the room as he repeatedly slammed himself into her tight sheath, any semblance of rhythm completely accidental as moans and groans mixed with grunts and growls.  

"Garas sul em, ma lath." (Come for me, my love.) A hand slide down her front, zaps of lightning tingled along her flesh, then settled on her clit. The world ceased to exist, the blood rushing through her head so loudly she barely heard his answering shout as he came within her. Her control over her mana evaporated, the resulting maelstrom of elements around them only adding to the intensity of her orgasm, his mana joining hers as he joined her.  

Coming back to awareness she found herself laying on his chest on the floor, his lips nestled in her hair as he continued to take deep breaths through his nose.   

"Ar lath ma, Solas."(I love you, Solas.) Moving his head back he gazed into her eyes, a lazy smile on his lips as his fingers traced her face.  

"I ar latha ma, Loral." (And I love you, Loral.) Finally lifting his head he looked around, a chuckle on his lips. "This is a first."  

Loral had to agree, on all accounts. The sex, and the resulting destruction of the bathing room. "Well, I think the water survived."   

His eyes darkened as they traveled the length of her body. Standing up he held out a hand. "Then let us correct that."   

 


	17. Much Ado About the Graves

"Loral wake up!" Loral jerked out of her sleep to the sounds of metal hitting flesh, the low cough grunt then roar of a bear instantly alerting her to the situation. The tent shakes as something hits it, A woman's cry of pain cut short as the sounds of flesh being rendered filled the night. Instantly in a state of panic alertness Loral flees the confines of the tent she'd been in, in little more than her smalls, fear for the others overpowering any sense of modesty. Even with her near perfect night vision it was hard to make out the remains of the scout under the huge mass of what appeared to be a monstrously overgrown white bear. Welcome to the Emerald Graves, she thought. Full of wonderful bears of all shapes and sizes. If she was right this was the bear from the cave north of the camp, how could she have forgotten about that thing?! Scout Harding was in the distance yelling for the swordsmen, archers already firing arrow after arrow into the beasts thick hide.  

"Loral!" Dorian waved her over to a high overhang just out of the bears reach. Climbing up next to him she acknowledge Jace, another mage, before she fired off a few blue fireballs, only faintly aware she had left her staff down in her now flattened tent.  

"Dorian, fire! Jace, ice! On three. One-" She threw out wind, pushing the scouts away from the bear. "Two!" The wind grew in strength, the bear staggering as it's air supply dropped. "Three!" A massive storm engulfed the area, Loral using a barrier to confine it in a dome like shape around the bear. Dorian used fireballs, Jace used blizzard, and Loral duelcasted wind with lightning, the white of the bears fur soon nowhere to be seen. Catching on Harding ordered all archers to fire into the storm, the barrage of elements and arrows lasting for what felt like minutes before the others released their hold on the spells and the area cleared out. It was only Dorian's gentle nugging that reminded her to release the barrier so the approaching scout could check if the creature yet lived. It was so silent Loral would swear she heard someone throwing up somewhere far in the distance.  

Slowly the scout moved, taking a long spear and poking it hard before jumping back. It didn’t move. Relaxing a little the man dropped his guard- his ultimate mistake. Quicker then should be possible the bear lifted itself upright, grabbed the man, and with a sickening jerk threw him across the camp, the sound of his body hitting something hard setting everyone else scampering. A familiar bolt hit the bear in the face, the ear breaking roar it let loose its only warning before it charged the archers. Where Varric stood.  

Dorian and Jace jerked back from Loral as she let out a warning growl, drawing the bears attention for half a second before a fired arrow drew it back to the archers. Loral's eyes darted to Varric again, a small whine leaving her as the stocky man attempted to outrun the surprisingly quick bear.  Seeing him getting himself into a corner she stopped thinking- instinct, or as Moe would call it later, pure awesome stupidity, took over. Jumping off the ledge she shifted mid leap, landing at a run on all fours, warning growls escaping her chest as she finally caught the bears full attention. Sensing a new threat it swung around fast, claws extended in defense as the now equally massive form of Loral, in lion form, leapt straight at it.  

"Don’t  shoot the lion!" Harding's shout could barely be heard over the sounds the two monstrous forms made as they collided in a clash of teeth and claws, fur flying as they fought for their lives. Managing to pin Loral down the bear clamped it jaw around her cuff, pressing down hard with its teeth in its search for flesh, Loral lifting her back legs and slicing its tender underside, somehow willing her claws to extend farther to increase the damage. It rolled off her, she clambered up it's back and locked her jaw behind its neck.  

 _'VARRIC SHOOT!'_ She pulled back hard, exposing the bears neck just in time for a bolt to connect.  Jumping back before the beast could grab her with its arms she lunged back in and snapped at it's back knee, breaking the joint with a jerk of her head.  

In a fair fight Loral may never have stood a chance of killing the bear alone, but with it's now shattered knee, the scouts combined attacks, and some blessed mage sending healing spells her way, her chances greatly went up. Leaping on it's back again she attempted to dig in with her claws so that she could grab it at the base of the skull again, but it anticipated her move this time and with a swing of its body it sent her twisting through the air, rolling to the side as the bear caught her with a powerful swipe across the face.  

Blood dripped as Loral snarled, the pain driving her even harder. The two giant animals reared up, viciously battling each other with their front paws as they tried to tear with their teeth. Finally seeing her chance, Loral lunged up under it's raised head, clamped her jaw around its damaged throat, crushing it with a mighty jerk. It's claws, deeply imbedded in her sides, held her close as the bears dying weight dropped on top of her, crushing her under it.  

Loral groaned under the pile of fur trying to suffocate her, then whimpered when someone tried to move the bear off of her, it's claws still in her sides. Finally deciding shifting to her normal elf size was the best way to remove the claws she shifted back, the muffled sounds of people above her growing weaker as her hearing returned to normal. Thankfully being smaller allowed her to fit in a crevasse in the ground, pushing and pulling until someone grabbed her hand and pulled her out.  

Strong arms surrounded her. "Oh thank the maker, your alive!" Moe pulled back to study her. "Now I don’t have to tell Solas you died in a bear attack." He grinned, the worry still all over his face, when she lightly punched his arm. 

"And here I thought you'd miss me."  

The look in his eyes changed, the light teasing glint leaving as he turned serious. "It would be like losing a part of myself. You scared the crap outta me, Loral." His arms crushed her within them again. "That was the most awesome thing I've ever witnessed. Never do it again." 

"Alright, Kid. Let the woman breath." Moe's arms released her, revealing Varric to her gaze. "You ok there, Legend?" 

"Aww, why does she get the super cool nickname?" 

 Varric didn’t even bother to face Moe as he answered him. "Can you turn into a lion and kill bears?" Silence met his question. "Come on," he pulled off his tunic, gently pulling it on over Loral's head. "You might want to greet your adoring fans in more then your smallclothes." 

Loral cracked a grin, the events of the last hour slowly trying to creep into her mind, scenes flashing through her mind. Lost in it all the only response she could come up with was, "At least I saved that much this time." Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly to gather herself, she stood up. "Come on, we need to prepare for a possible second attack. That momma bear has cubs in a cave to the north." She could freak out later.  

 

*************** 

 

 

"These people, they have no defensive wounds."  

Loral looked over to see Dorian examining a burnt body laying a few yards away from the ruins entrance. It had taken them the better part of the morning to reach this place, probably half that avoiding bears and giants, the other half killing the Orlesian mercenaries stationed throughout the Graves.  

When she'd been looking at the map back in Skyhold this place had sang to her, in a way she really didn’t understand. But now that she was here, looking at it, she realized where she was. This was the Knight's Tomb, or Din'an Hanin, built in a time the Emerald Graves were known as the Greatwoods, if not before. Which would mean... 

"This must be Taven's group. They did not see the enemy coming... we'll need to inform Keeper Hawen in the, uh Exalted Plains. These are members of his clan." Loral frowned, unsure how to proceed. Her memories of this place was scattered, but if she remembered right, there are a lot of red templars inside.  

Why would she be drawn so strongly to a tomb? There was no mirror here- was there? 

"Blackwell," the man stood at attention, his military background very apparent. "If that's not your best armor, I will wait for you to go get it." She meant it too. 

"It is, milady. What is it you expect to find in there?" 

"I'm not sure what exactly he's looking for, especially here, but Corypheus has his men looking at all the ruins he can find. I had hoped to reach this place long before them, they're moving faster than I'd expected. Inside I believe we'll find red templars... some of them the big ones. Hey," she stopped, giving him a stern look when his face fell. "We can go check out the ruins to the south instead, I can come back with Cassandra later. Or Bull." 

His shoulders went straight, the ploy working. "No, milady. I am more than capable of doing this." Dorian hid his smirk with his hand, catching on to what she'd just done.  

"Come on Hero," Varric pulled Bianca down, idly attaching a bolt. "I don’t know about you, but the more of those things we kill the happier I am." 

Three hours later they exited the tomb, all battle worn and covered in, well, Loral really didn’t want to think too hard about some of the stuff she was covered in. Finally, after hours running around as a lion, she shrank back down to her elven body. She'd actually tried to stay elfie and fight like a mage- but when your fighting eight foot tall behemoths it was wiser to pack a little more muscle then mana.  

"We get back to Skyhole I'm gunna sleep for a week." Loral stood there in the setting sun, stretching her muscles out, uncaring that her clothes were ripped and torn, and just as gruesome as she was.  

"I'm sorry we did not find what you were looking for, darling. Hopefully you can get more clues from that scroll you found." 

"Thanks Dorian. This scroll is a sad tale of how misunderstanding and distrust can lead to bitter ends. It's a love story, and a strong message. Maybe Solas will know more, there seems to be a map on it I don’t recognize." 

"That's something at least. Mahanon, are you alright?" Loral glanced up, seeing nothing out of the ordinary when she spotted Moe reclining against a tree in front of the tomb gates. 

"I'm good," he called back after a moment. Loral frowned, something... felt odd. Jogging over Moe grinned, holding up a small box of trinkets he'd found. "This box was buried next to the tree, maybe we can sell some of this stuff." 

Box buried under a tree... in front of the tomb... why was this not sitting well with her? Loral tried to remember, she knew there was something important about it, but what? Taking a deep breath she clasped the amulet inside, relief flooding her when nothing happened. "Sure thing Moe, just let Elana check it out first." She gave him a small grin before turning back to answer something Varric said, completely missing brief glow in Moe's eyes.  


	18. Learning Something New

Dorain gazed around him, immediately realizing he was in that other world again, in James, his future self. The man seemed frantic. "Sir," he was talking to the stern looking man in front of him. "I did just as I've done for the last six years. I did not push any new buttons and she was not acting any differently when I put her in the machine. I swear to you sir, I have no idea how this happened." 

"That may well be, but none of that explains how I have a catatonic woman on life support right now. Tell me again, what happened." 

"She seemed to be acting normal, sir. Sat down, laid back, I put the head piece on and attached the restraints. All normal. It had to be about three second after I started the Altus that the whole room began to glow, it was her. She was glowing. It lasted, I don’t know, seconds? Minutes? I called as soon as it started. Then it stopped, and she was gone." He was leaving something out, Dorian could sense it, but if the look on the old mans face in front of James indicated anything it was that he was not asking out of concern. He had an almost sinister looking gleam in his eyes.   

"Very well. I'm going to have Gregory come in and check the machine over, make sure there is no damage to it. James," he place what Dorian supposed was a comforting hand on James's arm. "Do not blame yourself for this. Loral has barely been hanging on for months now, perhaps the machine was too much for her this time." He patted James' arm a few times, turned and left the room.  

And James seemed to deflate, every muscle in his body melting like jello.  

"Is he gone," a voice quietly whispered from above.  

"You heard him, Ryan." He kept his voice just as low. "Gregory is on his way. Meet me in Rachel's room." 

Dorian stared in amazement as James left the room, the pure white walls and gleaming floors completely new to him. Some of the pictures they passed were so real he half expected water to be trickling down the walls or animals to jump out. Were those dogs? He'd never seen one so... poufy. Like a prancing cotton ball. All the people were dressed the same, white uniforms over gray slacks with black shiny shoes. Except that guy sitting on some kind of wheeled chair. He'd never seen spectacles like that, it covered both eyes.  

James rounded a corner, a woman with bright red hair in a bun coming into view.  

"Rachel!" 

"James! What are you doing here?" She gave him a glad smile that didn’t quiet reach her eyes. Ignoring it James pulled her close in a hug. 

"We need to talk," James whispered into her hair.  Pulling back he grinned again. "What, I can't just come spend time with my favorite girl?" My dad would be proud of this version of me, Dorian thought with a small twinge of jealousy. The man is straight, something I could never be. 

"I better be your only girl, mister." She playfully swatted his arm.  

"You know it." 

"I get off in a hour, meet me at my place." The look on her face was coy, not quiet reaching her eyes again. 

"See you then, beautiful." Placing a small peck on her lips James walked off with a grin. To an outsider they may seem like lovers, but Dorian felt there was something else between them, and it wasn't romantic.  

James played his part to a tee, humming to himself as he rounded the corner and went to what Dorian assumed was the dinning hall. There he ordered a massive meat sandwich with green leaves and something red tucked between two halves of a roll of bread. Dorian had no idea what it was, but he really wanted to try it after listening to James moan after the first bite. After eating his sandwich and the yellowish sticks he dipped in red sauce James started to slowly make his way to another area, stopping before a room with 015 written on it in metal.  

Rachel opened the door with that coy look again, grabbed his collar and pulled him in. Which would have been romantic, if she hadn't let him go and walked off as soon as the door was closed.  

"You can come in now, Ryan." Her tone was bored.  

A grate opened in the ceiling, the bearded man dropping through it having no physical resemblances to Solas except his eyes. Dorian had to laugh, Loral had told him Solas had a beard in this life but to hear of it and to see it were very different things.  Ryan landed on his feet, then looked up to help someone else down. "I've got Nev with me."  Dorian stared. No offense to Ellana, but Nev really upgraded in this life. Made him wonder what James looks like.  

"Report." Dorian was taken back by the authoritative tone to Rachel's voice.  

"Loral's in a coma." Ryan's face fell. Dorian watched Nev give him a comforting arm squeeze as she spoke. "But her soul is not here anymore. We tested the new Altus yesterday and she's there, in Thedas. She's alive, there, but if I understood it right she's not coming back." 

"How is that possible?"  

"I don't know, ma'am, but it's true. I arrived as we were about to close the Breach when Solas showed up with Miolu'vun. Except, we all know Miol died- " 

"Not fully." Ryan interrupted her. "We kept it from the tapes, both of us, but only Miol's soul moved on that day. Mythal helped Solas perform a spell that if I recall correctly revived Miol's body, which Loral inhabited alone for a few minutes. They also tried to tie her soul to that body but she was revived from the machine before they could complete the spell. That would explain why Loral is Miol again, or, well, is in her body. The spell must have somehow been activated, which pulled her from her body here to that body there." Dorian was floored. Except for the change in speech pattern this really could be Solas, he even stood the same way. 

"Well whatever happened, it's got the Directors attention now. The man was practically drooling when I described what happened in that room."  

"Magic." They all fell silent at Rachels whisper. "If that was magic, and he figures out how to use it in our world, we're screwed." 

"He's already finished that dimensional portal he was working on, Ramone all over that one yesterday. Said now they need to test it. And something else. Something about finding the key." 

"Key?" 

"Yeah, I'm as lost on that as you are." Exchanging glances they all pretty much shrugged. No one knew what the key was.  

Eventually Ryan started talking again. "Is Loral changing the timeline?" 

"Oooh yeah. Did you know she could shapeshift to a lion? I got to ride her back from Haven to the camp after the fall." 

"I did not. Did she... did she find a way? To stop him?" 

"I don’t know. Our machine isn't as well built as the Altus, it's closer to real time then the month per hour. But she has mentioned she's got plans. Haha, right before Solas locked her away somewhere for days. Hoo doggy- she was positively glowing when she finally emerged. Who knew Solas was such a randy old man!" 

Ryan blush all the way to his ears, a small twinge of jealousy barely noticeable in his eyes. "A-and the plans?" He stopped, clearing his throat. "Any idea what they are?" 

"She plans to rebuild the Crossroads, make it larger too, I think. She also mentioned the veil, that it's getting weaker. I'm hoping she intents to strengthen it, I'll have to ask her when I see her next time. The Herald is not with her- she's going crazy with Sera in the Mire right now." 

Ryan groaned. "That woman used to drive me nuts." Dorian wondered if he knew he just referred to himself as Solas. Loral had said he remembered almost all of being Solas, it would make sense.  

"I know, I love it!" 

"Alright you two, knock it off. Back to the matter at hand. Loral is in a coma- her body is dead for all intents and purposes. But- is it possible to bring her back?" 

They all shared a look. 

"What, exactly, are you asking, Rachel?"  

Rachel looked James right in the eyes. "You said the Director needs a key. If what I suspect is true, Loral is an extremely powerful mage in Thedas. What if she is the key? Pull her back with all her power in tow, into a body so weak it can barely move? Is it possible to steal another mages powers?" 

"It... is, yes." Ryan looked pained for some reason. "It would kill the mage its taken from in the process." 

"It wouldn’t take much of a fight in the condition she's in." 

"Wait," Ryan held his palm up. "It is possible- but only if the mage taking the power is more powerful- I'm talkin god like powerful, then the mage their taking it from. Or that mage gives it up willingly. I- I'm assuming this is true- I." He sighed. "There is a tidbit of something, maybe a conversation,  some kind of partial memory, that comes to mind when I think about Loral being a mage in her own body. I can't say it's true, but I get the feeling that Loral is far more powerful then Corypheus." With a shrug of his shoulders he glanced away. "I could be wrong- but what if I'm not?" 

"That is something to consider. To be safe I think we need to set up a kidnapping. Nev, can you let your superiors know?" 

"Already did, ma'am. I'm sure the-" Alarms started blaring. "huh, talk about timing. You people are slow, we took her days ago." 

"We need to go." Ryan helped Nev climb back into the vent, both of them disappearing as it closed.  

"Well, looks like duty calls." Rachel stepped up to James, kissing him hard while messing his hair. He did the same to her, even shuffled her clothes a little. Stepping back they studied each other. "It'll pass. Lets go." They both ran out of the room as Dorian began to pull back, waking up.  

Moe was lying in bed next to him when he woke, mumbling something in elvhen. Dorian frowned. Why did his voice sound so different?

**Author's Note:**

> Some rights belong to Ubisoft and others to Bioware. I'm just playing in their toy boxes :P


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